DPRK vows to strengthen nuclear deterrence

SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) vowed Wednesday to take "physical actions" to strengthen nuclear deterrence in response to fresh UN sanctions over its controversial December launch of a long-range rocket mounted with a satellite.

The DPRK will "take physical actions to strengthen self-defense military capabilities including nuclear deterrence," a statement by Pyongyang's foreign ministry statement carried by the state-run KCNA news said.

"The six-party talks and the joint September 19 statement were rendered null and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was put to an end," the ministry added, referring to the stalled disarmament-for-aid talks and the 2005 declaration that commits the DPRK to disarmament on the Korean peninsula.

The statement came hours after the UN Security Council condemned the December 12 rocket launch and adopted a new resolution demanding the DPRK "immediately comply fully with its obligations" under previous resolutions banning it from conducting missile and nuclear tests and other provocations.

The DPRK has defended its right to launch a satellite for peaceful and scientific purposes, while its critics, including the United States and South Korea, saw the launch as a disguised ballistic missile test.