Will never give in to sanctions: Kim Jong-un

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed never to give in to sanctions, adding that Pyongyang needs to deliver a "serious blow" to those imposing it, state-media reported on Thursday.

According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim made the remark during a plenary session of the Central Committee of the ruling party ON Wednesday, a day before the North is to convene the first session of its 14th Supreme People's Assembly, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"He underscored the need to more vigorously advance socialist construction by dint of self-supporting national economy... so as to deal a telling blow to the hostile forces who go with bloodshot eyes miscalculating that sanctions can bring North Korea to its knees," the KCNA said.

"Self-reliance and self-supporting national economy are the bedrock of the existence of our own style socialism, the motive power of its advance and development and the eternal lifeline essential to the destiny of our revolution," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

According to the report, Kim mentioned self-reliance dozens of times during the meeting.

He also mentioned his second summit with US President Donald Trump in February in Hanoi but steered clear of criticism directly pointed at Washington or his country's nuclear programme.

The Hanoi summit fell apart as Kim and Trump failed to find common ground over how to match Pyongyang's denuclearization steps with Washington's sanctions relief.

Pyongyang wanted major sanctions relief in exchange for dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear facility.

But Washington insisted on what officials described as "a big deal" that called for trading sanctions relief for the dismantlement of all of the North's nuclear and other weapons programmes.

--IANS

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