N.Korea has no fear of U.S. sanctions, will pursue nuclear arms: envoy

GENEVA: North Korea has nothing to fear from any U.S. move to broaden sanctions aimed at cutting it off from the global financial system and will pursue "acceleration" of its nuclear and missile programmes, a North Korean envoy told Reuters on Tuesday.

This includes developing a "pre-emptive first strike capability" and an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), said Choe Myong Nam, deputy ambassador at the North Korean mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

Reuters, quoting a senior U.S. official in Washington, reported on Monday that the Trump administration is considering sweeping sanctions as part of a broad review of measures to counter North Korea´s nuclear and missile threat.

"I think this is stemming from the visit by the Secretary of State (Rex Tillerson) to Japan, South Korea and China...We of course are not afraid of any act like that," Choe told Reuters.

"Even prohibition of the international transactions system, the global financial system, this kind of thing is part of their system that will not frighten us or make any difference."

He called existing sanctions "heinous and inhumane".

North Korea has been under sanctions for "half a century" but the communist state survives by placing an emphasis on juche or "self-sufficiency", he said.

His country wants a forum set up to examine the "legality and legitimacy of the sanctions regime".

He denounced joint annual military exercises currently being carried out by the United States and South Korea on the divided peninsula and criticised remarks by Tillerson during his talks with regional allies last week.

"All he was talking about is for the United States to take military actions on DPRK," Choe said, using the acronym for the Democratic People´s Republic of Korea.

North Korea rejects claims by Washington and Seoul that the military drills are defensive.

They involve strategic nuclear bombers and a nuclear submarine, Columbus, that recently entered

South Korean ports, he said.

"In the light of such huge military forces involved in the joint military exercises, we have no other choice but to continue with our full acceleration of the nuclear programmes and missile programmes.

It is because of these hostile activities on the part of the United States and South Korea.