N. Korea vows to respond with 'counteroffensive' to new sanctions

North Korea said Tuesday it will "respond with our own mode of counteroffensive" to any fresh sanctions that may be put in place following Pyongyang's latest nuclear test.

In a Q&A session with the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean foreign ministry spokesman blasted the United States for leading international efforts to adopt a fresh sanctions resolution.

Last Sunday, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. Pyongyang claimed it was a successful test of an H-bomb that can be mounted on a long-range missile.

"The U.S. is running amock to defame the DPRK, taking issue with our measures to bolster the self-defensive nuclear force," the spokesman said, referring to North Korea by its full name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"But this is only a sophistry to hide true colors of the U.S. as the main culprit for escalated tension and nuclear threat," he added. "No one has the right to make a fuss about our test of H-bomb for ICBM as it is a routine and indispensable process for the implementation of the strategic line that we have chosen for ourselves, the line of simultaneously developing the two fronts."

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The spokesman then threatened that the North will fight back with force if new sanctions are put into place.

"We will respond to the heinous sanctions and pressure of the U.S. with our own mode of counteroffensive and the U.S. shall be held totally responsible for all catastrophic consequences to follow," he said. "The U.S. should not forget even for a moment about the presence of the DPRK, the full-fledged nuclear power in possession of ICBM as well as A-bomb and H-bomb." (Yonhap)