It vowed retaliation against Washington.
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted new sanctions Saturday in response to Pyongyang’s long-range ballistic missile tests on July 4 and July 28.
The measures aim to make it harder for North Korea to make money across the globe. They target North Korea’s primary exports — including coal, iron and seafood — and attempt to cut off its additional revenue streams by targeting some of its banks and joint ventures with foreign companies.
Speaking at the ASEAN Regional Forum on Monday, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho blamed the US for the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and said Pyongyang’s “possession of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles is a legitimate option for self-defence in the face of a clear and real nuclear threat posed by the US,” according to a statement released by North Korea.
“We will, under no circumstances, put the nukes and ballistic rockets on the negotiating table,” Ri said, adding Pyongyang would “teach the US a severe lesson” if it used military force against North Korea.
Also on Monday, North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said the country’s missile launches were a “stern warning to the US,” and warned Washington against “believing that its land is safe across the ocean.”
KCNA accused the US of “trying to drive the situation of the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war” and pushing the UN to pass new sanctions.
“(North Korea) will make the US pay dearly for all the heinous crimes it commits against the state and people of this country,” KCNA said.
The White House said that Trump and the President of South Korea spoke on Sunday Washington time about the sanctions and “affirmed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, South Korea, and Japan, as well as to most countries around the world.”
When asked how long Pyongyang would need to stop launching missiles for — or if they would need to start dismantling their nuclear weapons program before talks — Tillerson said “we’ll know it when we see it.”
“The best signal that North Korea could give us that they’re prepared to talk would be to stop these missile launches. We’ve not had an extended period of time where they have not taken some type of provocative action by launching ballistic missiles,” Tillerson said.
“This isn’t about a specific number of days or weeks. This is really about the spirit of these talks and when they can demonstrate they’re ready to sit with the spirit of finding a way forward in these talks by no longer conducting these missile tests,” Tillerson said.
“It is all about how we see their attitude toward approaching a dialogue with us.”
But the US has long said it would agree to talk only if North Korea agrees to denuclearization — something many analysts believe is unlikely with North Korea’s weapons program having progressed as far as it has.
China, North Korea’s main ally and economic benefactor, said Sunday that the situation on the Korean Peninsula had reached a “critical point of crisis,” but added that it was a “turning point for negotiations.”
“Sanctions are necessary but in no way the ultimate purpose. Imposing fresh sanctions is aimed at bringing the conundrum back to the negotiation table,” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
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