DPRK leader vows to safeguard national dignity

PYONGYANG - The paramount leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday pledged to resort to "powerful physical countermeasures" in safeguarding his country's dignity and sovereign rights.

Kim Jong-un's pledge was made known by KCNA, DPRK's official news agency, in a statement. Though without elaboration, Kim said it while attending a work meeting of officials for national security and external affairs held recently on current situation, said KCNA's statement, quoting a report from the meeting. ?

The 15-nation United Nations Security Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the Resolution 2087 which condemns DPRK's rocket launch in December and requires the DPRK to comply with all relevant resolutions approved by the Security Council and not to use the ballistic missile technology for any launch. It also reiterated to seek a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the issues concerned and advocated the renewal of the six-party talks over the denuclearization issue on the Korean Peninsula.

The KCNA meeting's report said the resolution with sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council is a rude provocation to DPRK in its efforts to execute its rights as a sovereign state and described it as an "unprecedented anti-DPRK strangling act" which leads to the grim situation on the Korean Peninsula and the periphery.

The meeting's report also stressed that it would be impossible for the Korean Peninsula to become denuclearized before the world over realizes denuclearization.

On December 12 last year, the KCNA confirmed a Unha-3 rocket carrying the second version of the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite blasted off from the Sohae Space Center at 9:49 am local time (0049 GMT). The satellite entered its preset orbit 9 minutes and 27 seconds after the lift-off, the news agency said.