North Korea says it "totally rejects" the U.N. Security Council's resolution sanctioning the country for its nuclear weapon test and renewed its warning of continued "physical countermeasures" should it be pressured.

Addressing the council just minutes after the 15-member panel unanimously adopted the resolution, North Korean Ambassador Pak Gil-yon said his government felt it necessary to prove its right to existence in the face of hostile policies by the United States.

Pak accused the Security Council of completely losing its impartiality and applying double standards in its work.

He said if the United States increases pressure upon the North persistently, his country will continue to take physical countermeasures, considering it as a declaration of war.

The envoy also said Pyongyang "remains unchanged in its will" to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and negotiations.