Nuclear quagmire: Sanctions illegal and evil, says North Korea

Vows to boost weapons programme after UN resolution

PYONGYANG: North Korea vowed on Wednesday to accelerate its weapons programmes in response to 'evil' sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council following its latest and most powerful nuclear test. The detonation, Pyongyang's sixth nuclear blast, prompted global condemnation.

The UN Security Council unanimously imposed an eighth set of sanctions on North Korea on Monday, banning it from trading in textiles and restricting its oil imports, which US President Donald Trump said was a prelude to stronger measures.

The North's foreign ministry condemned the new measures "in the strongest terms", calling them a "full-scale economic blockade" driven by the US and aimed at "suffocating" its state and people.

It was "another illegal and evil 'resolution on sanctions' piloted by the US", it said in a statement carried by the official news agency.

Washington had initially sought a full oil embargo and a freeze on the foreign assets of leader Kim Jong-Un in response to the blast, but dropped them following strong opposition from China and Russia.

The new resolution instead bans trade in textiles, cuts off natural gas shipments to North Korea, places a ceiling of 2 million barrels a year on deliveries of refined oil products and caps crude oil shipments at current levels.

The UN resolution also barred countries from issuing new authorisations to North Korean workers sent abroad. There are almost 100,000 of them, according to the US, earning more than $500 million a year for the regime.

Under the measure, joint ventures with North Korean entities are prohibited, while governments are authorised to inspect ships suspected of carrying banned cargo from the country, but must first seek the consent of the vessels' flag state.