North Korea has vowed to further strengthen its nuclear deterrence, blasting greater U.S. pressure on the regime following its latest missile launch.
 
Quoting a foreign ministry spokesman on Friday, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency said Pyongyang will take additional steps to boost deterrence the more the U.S. misleads global opinion and dials up pressure against the North.
 
The spokesman said fanatics within the Trump administration will thoroughly sanction any country, group or individual supporting North Korea. It said the U.S. even lords over the United Nations by threatening to take issue with international organizations that support the North.
 
The North's reaction indicates it will not give up its nuclear weapons despite assurance by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Washington has no intention to seek regime change in North Korea.
 
Last Sunday, North Korea test-fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile known as the Hwasong-12.

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