'America makes a terrible mistake if it thinks it can threaten North Korea'

According to Kyodo news agency, North Korea on September 5 criticized the United States for pressuring the United Nations Security Council to pass a new sanctions resolution over Pyongyang's recent nuclear test, and warned of retaliation.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (right) watches the launch of a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile in Pyongyang on August 29. (Source: Yonhap/VNA)

An unnamed spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry condemned the US sanctions and pressure, vowing to respond in kind with a series of retaliatory measures of its own, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The spokesman said: "The US will be held fully responsible for the catastrophic consequences to come. The US must not forget the presence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a comprehensive nuclear power possessing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) as well as A-bombs (atomic bombs) and H-bombs (hydrogen bombs)."

According to the spokesman, the US would make a terrible mistake if it thought it could threaten North Korea by mentioning "all options" and imposing the heaviest sanctions and pressure on North Korea in all political, economic and military fields.

On the same day, according to THX, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a phone call with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, affirming that Moscow firmly opposes the escalation of military tensions in Northeast Asia. During the phone call, the two sides exchanged assessments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang conducted its sixth nuclear test on September 3.

According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov said that any option should be given priority to diplomatic and political means to find peaceful solutions. While the US and its allies are preparing a draft resolution on Pyongyang for a vote at the UN Security Council, Lavrov said Russia is ready to consider the document if it reflects that view.

Meanwhile, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the situation on the Korean Peninsula surrounding Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests is the "most dangerous crisis" the international community is facing, thereby drawing comparisons with the period before the outbreak of World War I.

According to Vietnam+