North Korea threatens UN over sanctions

North Korea on Friday threatened to take “corresponding measures” if the UN Security Council adopts another sanctions resolution in response to the North’s test-launch of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on July 4.

The North’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency that the ICBM test was an exercise of its legitimate right to self-defense against nuclear threat from the United States.

The U.S. has been trying to get China and Russia to back a new UN Security Council resolution imposing stiffer sanctions on North Korea following its latest missile test.

NAN reports that during a Security Council meeting on July 7, U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, threatened secondary sanctions if the council could not agree on new sanctions.

On June 3, the council voted to broaden sanctions on North Korea in a unanimous decision from the council’s 15 member nations.

The new sanctions applied to a travel ban and asset freeze to 14 people and four North Korean entities.

Among the blacklisted officials is the head of North Korea’s overseas spying operations, senior members of North Korea’s Workers’ Party, and heads of trading firms that have funded North Korea’s military program.

Blacklisted entities include two trading firms, the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People’s Army, and the Koryo Bank, which is tied to an organisation that manages the private finances of North Korean officials, including the nation’s president, Kim Jong Un.