published Sep 12, 2017 6:54:26 PM, by Kanga Kong
(Bloomberg) —
In its first official response to new United Nations sanctions, North Korea said it will accelerate its plans to acquire a nuclear weapon that can strike the U.S. homeland.

The UN resolution verified that its push for nuclear weapons “was absolutely right” and strengthened its will to “follow this road at a faster pace without the slightest diversion until this fight to the finish is over,” North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday. The country vowed to establish a “practical equilibrium” with the U.S., it said.

The UN Security Council on Monday agreed to a set of new sanctions including banning textile exports from the country and capping imports of refined petroleum as a way to punish Pyongyang for conducting its sixth and most powerful nuclear test Sept. 3. The U.S. estimated that the measures would cut the country’s revenues by $1.3 billion and slash its oil supply by 30 percent.

The final version of the sanctions fell short of U.S.’s draft proposal that called for a complete oil-supply ban and freeze of Kim’s assets abroad. China and Russia, North Korea’s two biggest allies with a veto right at the Security Council, objected to the more stringent penalties.

Since the test of what North Korea claims was a hydrogen bomb, neighboring countries and the U.S. have been closely watching for possible further provocations by Kim. South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon had earlier warned that Kim would launch an intercontinental ballistic missile around the regime’s founding anniversary on September 9.

While Pyongyang hasn’t yet responded with another nuclear or missile test, it is still technically ready to conduct its seventh nuclear test at its Punggye-ri test site, according to South Korea’s military. An analysis of commercial satellite imagery showed more activity near the site, suggesting North Korea could be preparing more nuclear tests, according to 38 North website. North Korea has conducted one nuclear and more than a dozen missile tests so far this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kanga Kong in Seoul at kkong50@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net Peter Pae

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