Sanctions cannot deter us: N. Korea

North Korea on Wednesday insisted that it will maintain its nuclear program even if additional sanctions from the international community are imposed on the regime, media reports said.

It also accused the US of being the main culprit for escalating tension and nuclear threat, Efe news reported.

"The US is terribly mistaken if it thinks it can frighten or persuade Pyongyang by talking about 'all options' on the table and imposing the toughest sanctions and pressure," the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement released late Tuesday by state news agency KCNA.

The statement also referred to the UN Security Council's emergency meeting on Monday and US Ambassador Nikki Haley's request to adopt a new and tougher sanctions resolution against North Korea.

Insisting on the futility of the new sanctions, Pyongyang said it will respond "to the heinous sanctions and pressure of the US with our own mode of counter offensive" and Washington "shall be held totally responsible for all catastrophic consequences to follow".

Regarding its latest nuclear test on Sunday, in which it claimed to have tested an H-bomb - more powerful than a conventional atomic bomb - and could install it on an intercontinental missile, Pyongyang said "no one has the right to make a fuss about our test".

It also described it as "a routine and indispensable process for the implementation of the strategic line".

--IANS

in/