North Korea warns U.S. over sanctions push ahead of U.N. vote

North Korea warns U.S. over sanctions push ahead of U.N. vote
Mon Sep 11, 2017 11:26:30

North Korea warned the United States on Monday that it would pay a “due price” for spearheading efforts for fresh sanctions on the regime following its latest nuclear test, which diplomats say the U.N. Security Council will vote on later in the day.

(reuters) -- However, a U.S.-drafted resolution originally calling for an oil embargo on the North, a halt to its key exports of textiles and subjecting leader Kim Jong Un to a financial and travel ban, appears to have been watered down to appease Russia and China, which both have veto powers, diplomats said.

It no longer proposes blacklisting Kim and reduces sanctions on oil and gas, a draft reviewed by Reuters shows. It still proposes a ban on textile exports.

North Korea was condemned globally for conducting its sixth nuclear test on Sept 3, which it said was of an advanced hydrogen bomb. NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said at the weekend that North Korea’s “reckless behaviour” is a global threat and required a global response.

The tensions have weighed on global markets, but on Monday there was some relief among investors that North Korea did not conduct a further missile test this weekend when it celebrated its founding anniversary.

Still, North Korea denounced efforts by Washington to impose new U.N.-backed sanctions against the country. The North’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said the United States was “going frantic” to manipulate the Security Council over Pyongyang’s nuclear test, which it said was part of “legitimate self-defensive measures.”

“In case the U.S. eventually does rig up the illegal and unlawful ‘resolution’ on harsher sanctions, the DPRK shall make absolutely sure that the U.S. pays due price,” the spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

DPRK is short for the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

(Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reacts during a celebration for nuclear scientists and engineers who contributed to a hydrogen bomb test, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on September 10, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS)

string(314) "[{"id":"3044796","sort":"8069136","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"150469209141500700.jpg","title":"Iran says US threats against N.Korea are danger to world "} ,{"id":"3045391","sort":"8069141","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"150477489429956600.jpg","title":"EU preparing to increase sanctions on N. Korea: Mogherini "} ]"