DPRK Calls New UN Sanctions 'Infringement on Sovereignty'

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea denounced the latest United Nations' sanctions, saying they infringe on its sovereignty, are unwarranted and unfair, and vowed to take "righteous action," the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

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In a statement to the Asean forum in Manila, Pyongyang reiterated its position that as long as it faced U.S. hostility and military threat, it would not place its nuclear program on the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and President Donald Trump agreed to apply maximum pressure and sanctions on the DPRK in a telephone call, while Chinese state media stressed the limits of the U.N. sanctions, slamming the United States for its "arrogance," saying Washington needed to understand it also has a role in lessening tensions.

The U.S. has over 37,500 troops on the artificially imposed border between north and south Korea, which was one country before the U.S. war on the peninsula from 1950-1954 that left the people of Korea divided. The U.S. and South Korean militaries also conduct war games off the coast of the region on a regular basis.

During the ASEAN forum in Manila, the Philippines, the DPRK's foreign minister Ri Yong-ho and South Korea's Kang Kyung-wha met briefly hours after the U.N. sanctions were announced. South Korea reportedly urged the DPRK to accept a dialogue proposal but the latter replied that "given the current situation in which the South cooperates with the United States to push the North, these proposals lack sincerity," said Ri, according to an anonymous diplomatic source quoted by the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The U.N. Security Council approved new U.S.-drafted sanctions against the DPRK Saturday, which are estimated to total more than US$1 billion.

The restrictions are said to affect the exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood as well as workforce – prohibiting countries from increasing existing numbers of DPRK workers employed outside the country.

Bans were placed on new joint ventures as well as new investment in existing joint ventures with the DPRK.