Amid an international uproar over North Korea's latest and biggest nuclear weapons test, one of its top diplomats says it's ready to send "more gift packages to the United States.
Han Tae Song, ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the UN in Geneva, on Tuesday addressed the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament two days after his country detonated its sixth nuclear test explosion.
"I am proud of saying that just two days ago on the 3rd of September, DPRK successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test for intercontinental ballistic rocket under its plan for building a strategic nuclear force," Han told the Geneva forum.
"The recent self-defense measures by my country, DPRK, are a 'gift package' addressed to none other than the US," Han said.
"The US will receive more 'gift packages' from my country as long as it relies on reckless provocations and futile attempts to put pressure on the DPRK," he added without elaborating.
Military measures being taken by North Korea were "an exercise of restraint and justified self-defense right" to counter "the ever-growing and decade-long US nuclear threat and hostile policy aimed at isolating my country".
US disarmament ambassador Robert Wood said North Korea had defied the international community once again with its test.
"It can no longer be business as usual with this regime."
The White House said on Monday President Donald Trump had agreed "in principle" to scrap a warhead weight limit on South Korea's missiles in the wake of the North's latest test.
The United States accused North Korea's trading partners of aiding its nuclear ambitions and said Pyongyang was "begging for war".
Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Tuesday that the US aim for the United Nations Security Council to vote on Monday on new sanctions on North Korea over its latest nuclear test is "a little premature".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister spoke by telephone on Tuesday and agreed that sanctions against Pyongyang should be stepped up.
"She agreed with Prime Minister Abe that North Korea's latest nuclear test threatened the security of the entire world and that this massive violation of the UN Security Council's resolution must result in a resolute reaction from the international community as well as tougher sanctions," spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
Source: News.com.au
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