The sanctions, which were unanimously passed by the UN on Saturday, were a “violent violation of our sovereignty,” the official KCNA news agency said.

Separately, South Korea says the North has rejected an offer to restart talks, dismissing it as insincere.

The sanctions will aim to reduce North Korea’s export revenues by a third.

The UN Security Council decision followed repeated missile tests by the North which have escalated tensions on the peninsula.

In its first major response on Monday, North Korea insisted that it would continue to develop its controversial nuclear weapons programme.

The state-run KCNA news agency said Pyongyang would “not put our self-defensive nuclear deterrent on the negotiating table” while it faces threats from the US.

It threatened to make the US “pay the price for its crime… thousands of times,” referring to America’s role in drafting the UN sanctions resolution.

Speaking to reporters at a regional forum in the Philippine capital, Manila, North Korean spokesman Bang Kwang Hyuk said: “The worsening situation on the Korean peninsula, as well as the nuclear issues, were caused by the United States.

“We affirm that we’ll never place our nuclear and ballistic missiles programme on the negotiating table, and won’t budge an inch on strengthening nuclear armament.”

The remarks come after reports emerged that the North and South Korean foreign ministers had met briefly on Sunday evening on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Manila.

South Korean media reported that its Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-wha, shook hands with her North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong Ho, in a brief and unarranged meeting at an official dinner event.

A South Korean official told the BBC that Mr Ri had dismissed Ms Kang’s offer of talks as “insincere”.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Ms Kang as saying that Mr Ri’s rejection of the talks proposal appeared to be connected to the new sanctions.

“I told him that [the two offers for talks] are an urgent matter that should be carried out immediately with any political agenda put aside and asked him to proactively react,” she was quoted as saying.

The foreign minister of China, which is Pyongyang’s closest ally, told journalists on Monday: “My feeling is that the North did not entirely reject the positive proposals raised by the South.”

Wang Yi added that China also supported the South’s initiatives, and was “100%” committed to enforcing the latest round of UN sanctions.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is also at the Asean forum, where he spoke about North Korea.

Noting Russia and China’s participation in the unanimous vote, he told journalists it was clear there was now “no daylight among the international community” on their desire for North Korea to stop its tests.

“The best signal that North Korea can give us [is] that they are prepared to talk would be to stop these missile launches,” he added.

Russia and China have previously differed with others on how to handle Pyongyang, but in recent months have joined calls for North Korea to stop its missile tests – while also urging the US and South Korea to halt military drills, and withdraw an anti-missile system from the South.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump spoke to his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in over the phone about relations on the Korean peninsula.

They agreed that North Korea “poses a grave and growing direct threat” and the two leaders were committed to fully implementing the latest round of UN sanctions, the White House said in a statement.

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Source: BBC

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The order adds Tareck el-Aissami to the US narcotics “kingpin” sanctions list “for playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking”.

Sanctions were also slapped on wealthy businessman Samark Bello, described as Mr Aissami’s “primary frontman”.

Mr Aissami was appointed last month by President Nicolas Maduro.

There was no immediate response from him or Mr Bello. but Mr Aissami has previously denied criminal ties.

The sanctions freeze the vice-president’s assets in the US and bar him from entering the country.

The US Treasury statement says Mr Aissami facilitated huge shipments of narcotics from Venezuela by air and sea. It also says he was in the pay of convicted Venezuelan drug lord Walid Makled for the protection of drug shipments.

John E Smith, acting director of the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the sanctions were “the culmination of a multi-year investigation under the Kingpin Act to target significant narcotics traffickers in Venezuela and demonstrates that power and influence do not protect those who engage in these illicit activities.

“This case highlights our continued focus on narcotics traffickers and those who help launder their illicit proceeds through the United States,” he said.

AFP – Mr Aissami, seen here with Vladimir Putin in 2010, previously served as interior minister

Mr Aissami was previously the governor of Aragua state and served as minister of the interior and justice in Venezuela from 2008 to 2012.

US media, citing leaked intelligence documents, say Mr Aissami has also been under investigation in the US for suspected ties to the militant group Hezbollah.

During his time as interior minister, fraudulent Venezuelan passports ended up in the hands of members of the Lebanese group, it is claimed.

Earlier this month, 34 members of the US Congress sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking for sanctions against Venezuelan officials.

They said that Mr Aissami’s appointment as vice-president put him in line to become Venezuela’s next leader which, they said, was “troubling given his alleged ties to drug trafficking and terrorist organisations”.

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Source: BBC

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