North Korea says:

Sanctions harden will

SOUTH KOREA: North Korea said UN sanctions would not work on the state but only harden its will to build up its military.

Rodong Sinmun, the official daily of the communist party, said the sanctions would not hurt the country which has a "self-reliant economy," warning the moves would meet unspecified retaliatory steps.

"It is ridiculous and contemptible for enemy forces to clamour for toughening sanctions and blockade against us," the daily said.

"This would not even hurt a hair of the people who have been living a self-sustaining life, living with their own means on their own land," it said. North Korea would respond to "rifle shots with gun shots, gun shots with missiles and nuclear weapons with nuclear weapons."

"Our determination to strengthen our self-defensive military power hundreds of thousand folds is becoming firmer day after day," it said in a lengthy commentary titled "The nature of the Korean people."

Seoul, Monday, AFP