Pyongyang condemns and rejects the new UN sanctions.

According to the country's KCNA state news agency, the foreign ministry calls the resolution a violation of the DPRK's sovereignty. The ministry adds the UN acted at Washington's behest.

The DPRK says the sanctions will inevitably escalate tensions on the peninsula, and the US will be held to account.

Pyongyang says the government will further strengthen measures to defend the country from threats.