N. Korean think tank says US sanctions can be overcome by self-reliance

hink tank has claimed that Pyongyang can shatter the consequences of US-led sanctions by independent growth amid growing international criticism of its fifth and latest nuclear test.

The communist institute alleged that North Korea's "iron spikes of self-empowerment are capable of completely shattering the sanction stick that was imposed by the US and its followers," reported the Korea Central News Agency, the media mouthpiece of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"The US and its followers are lost in extreme panic by our advancement of nuclear armament abilities, hence raising additional 'sanctions' and other conspiracies," the KCNA said, citing the North Korean institute's report.

The paper is reflective of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's "byeongjin" policy, a two-threaded scheme to build up its nuclear armaments while boosting North Korea's moribund economy.

In protest of the stiff sanctions imposed on it by international society, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test in September, only four months after the fourth test in January.

In addition, the paper dismissed the United Nations Security Council's resolution on the sanctions, calling the U.N. member countries' claims of Pyongyang's breach of international law "perplexing."

Calling the Security Council's resolution and the international sanctions a "wicked blackmailing document" and "a de facto declaration of war," the paper claimed North Korea has and will break through the international sanctions. (Yonhap)