North Korea has warned that it will have a "stronger and certain reaction" after the United States slapped sanctions over the North's recent missile tests. 

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Friday, a spokesperson for the North's foreign ministry defended its missile tests as the country's legitimate right to self-defense.

The statement said the U.S. accusation over the North's legitimate exercise of the right is an "evident provocation and a gangster-like logic."

It also criticized Washington for intentionally escalating the situation by imposing new sanctions, adding that while the U.S. talks of diplomacy and dialogue, it is actually absorbed in its policy of isolating the North. 

The statement claimed that the North's recent development of new weapons is just part of its efforts to modernize its national defense capability and did not target any specific country or harm the security of neighboring countries. 

The spokesperson warned that the North will have a stronger and certain reaction if the United States adopts such a confrontational stance.