N.Korea accuses UNSC of 'fatal miscalculation'

Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - Global pressure on Pyongyang to denuclearize will have the opposite effect, North Korea's Foreign Ministry warned late Sunday, as the authoritarian regime rejected the UN Security Council's latest sanctions resolution.

The international body on Friday adopted Resolution 2356 to further squeeze the North by targeting more individuals and entities following a series of barred missile tests in the reclusive state this year.’

"It is a fatal miscalculation if the countries, which have had a hand in the frame-up of the 'sanctions resolution,' would even think that they can delay or hold in check the eye-opening development of [North Korea's] nuclear forces even for a moment," the ministry cautioned in a statement carried by state-run news outlet KCNA.

"No matter what others say, whatever sanctions and pressure may follow, we will not flinch from the road to build up nuclear forces," the ministry added, urging the United States and others to make the "right choices" rather than pushing for dialogue with denuclearization preconditions.

The U.S. responded by insisting it is Pyongyang that needs to change.

"We call on North Korea to refrain from provocative, destabilizing actions and rhetoric, and to make the strategic choice to fulfill its international obligations and commitments and return to serious talks," State Department spokesperson Anna Richey-Allen said.

Meanwhile, sanctions have been at least partly effective this year, with a UN. report showing Sunday that North Korean coal exports fell to zero in April.

China has been a major trade partner of the North and is seen as having a crucial role to play in ensuring the success of punitive actions against Pyongyang.