The DPRK will protect its sovereign rights and security interests from growing hostile threats and pressure from US sanctions, Kim Un Chol, deputy foreign minister for US affairs, said in a statement.

Our country will take stronger real actions to make its already established military and technological strength irreversible, he stressed.

The statement came after Washington said that it will work with South Korea and other countries to establish an alternative committee of experts to oversee the enforcement of sanctions against Pyongyang.

In late March, Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution extending the panel in charged with monitoring compliance with the DPRK sanctions for one year, although the sanctions remain in force.

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