"We define this 'sanctions resolution' rigged up by the US and its followers as a grave infringement upon the sovereignty of our Republic, as an act of war violating peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and the region and categorically reject the 'resolution'," the North Korean foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday, as quoted by the country's central news agency.
The ministry has addressed Washington's attempts of, what North Korea calls, a "complete economic blockade" of Pyongyang.
"If the US wishes to live safely, it must abandon its hostile policy towards the DPRK and learn to co-exist with the country that has nuclear weapons and should wake up from its pipe dream of our country giving up nuclear weapons which we have developed and completed through all kinds of hardships," the statement reads.
UN Resolution
The document, adopted by the UNSC, stipulates clearly lower limits on North Korea's refined oil imports, the return of country's citizens working abroad back to the country within two years and a crackdown on vessels smuggling sanctioned goods, such as oil and coal from North Korea.
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However, the initial draft of the resolution, as sought by the Trump administration, specified an even tougher policy towards Pyongyang, banning all oil imports and a freeze on international assets of North Korean President Kim Jong Un and the country's government.
While considering the draft, the UNSC had to put last-minute amendments in the text amid sharp criticism from Russia, which insisted North Korean workers needed 24 months (unlike the initial 12 suggested) to return and reduced the number of North Koreans in the UN blacklist from 19 to 15.
The US "Pipe Dream"
North Korea has reacted to the document by rejecting new sanctions and considering them to be "an act of war", adding that the country's nuclear weapons were a self-defensive deterrence against US threats and blackmailing and vowing to further consolidate nuclear arsenal.
READ MORE: 'Act of War': North Korea Rejects New UN Security Council Sanctions
This stance follows Pyongyang's repeatedly voiced criticism of US President Donald Trump's policy towards the country, recently called by North Korea's foreign ministry a "proclamation of aggression aimed at holding sway over the world according to its taste and at its own free will."
The US, for their part, has repeatedly expressed concern over North Korea's nuclear potential, urging to adopt harsh measures in response, listing Pyongyang among the threats for the country in the new US national security strategy.
China has hailed the UN resolution, with China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying calling for restraint on Monday, urging nations to "make positive and constructive efforts to de-escalate tensions" on the Korean Peninsula and emphasizing "not inflicting adverse humanitarian impact" on North Koreans.
READ MORE: China Calls for Restraint Following Adoption of UNSC Resolution on North Korea
