North Korea vows revenge for UN sanctions after rejecting South's offer for talks during rare encounter in Manila
The North’s warning came two days after the UN Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions to punish the North including a ban on coal and other exports worth over US$1 billion
North Korea vowed Monday to bolster its nuclear arsenal and launch “thousands-fold” revenge against the United States to respond to tough UN sanctions imposed after its intercontinental ballistic launches.
The North’s warning came after it dismissed offers of talks from the South during a rare exchange between the two rivals’ foreign ministers, Seoul’s Yonhap news agency reported Monday after the UN unanimously voted to punish Pyongyang with a ban on coal and other exports worth over US$1 billion.
In a statement carried by state media, the North Korean government said the sanctions were a “violent infringement of its sovereignty” that was caused by a “heinous US plot to isolate and stifle” North Korea.
It said the UN sanctions will never force the country to negotiate over its nuclear programme or to give up its push to strengthen its nuclear capability. The North said it will take “action of justice” but didn’t elaborate.
That followed a brief encounter between the South’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Northern counterpart Ri Yong-ho ahead of an Asean Regional Forum dinner on Sunday, Yonhap said.