By The Huffington Post News Editors
By Jack Kim
SEOUL, March 9 (Reuters) – North Korea formally rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution on Saturday that demands an end to its nuclear arms programme, signalling it would defy international sanctions and pursue its goal of becoming a full-fledged nuclear weapons state.
The Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Friday, tightening financial restrictions and cracking down on its attempts to transport banned cargo.
The North’s sole major ally China wants the sanctions fully implemented. The sanctions are designed to make punitive measures more like those used against Iran, which Western officials say have been surprisingly successful.
The resolution, the fifth since 2006 aimed at stopping the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme, coincides with a sharp escalation of security tensions on the Korean peninsula after Pyongyang’s third nuclear test on Feb. 12.
“The DPRK, as it did in the past, vehemently denounces and totally rejects the ‘resolution on sanctions’ against the DPRK, a product of the U.S. hostile policy toward it,” the North’s foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.
DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The world will clearly see what permanent position the DPRK will reinforce as a nuclear weapons state and satellite launcher as a result of the U.S. attitude of prodding the UNSC into cooking up the ‘resolution.'”
The United States warned North Korea it will achieve nothing by repeating threats of provocative actions and will only drive itself deeper into international isolation.
“The United States of America and our allies are prepared to deal with any threat and any reality that occurs in the world,” U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said ahead of his visit to Afghanistan on Friday. “We are aware of what’s going on. We have partnerships in that part of the world that are important.”
North Korea defied international warningsand conducted a third nuclear test in February, setting off a …read more
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