N. Korea vows to take countermeasures against organizations that impose sanctions

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, rear, alongside his daughter believed to be named Ju-ae, center, watches a demonstration flight by the country's airmen during his visit to a flight regiment of the North Korean Air Force, Nov. 30, to mark Aviation Day that fell on the previous day, in this photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap

North Korea said Saturday that it will take countermeasures against individuals and organizations that impose sanctions against the regime.

On Thursday, the United States sanctioned a North Korean cyber espionage group and eight foreign-based agents of the reclusive regime in response to Pyongyang's spy satellite launch last week. The new designations were conducted in coordination with South Korea, Japan and Australia.

"It is the sovereign right of the DPRK to firmly defend the state's sovereignty, security and interests from hostile forces' encroachment," North Korea's foreign ministry said in an English-language statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). DPRK refers to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang said it will apply countermeasures to individuals, institutions and organizations of the U.S. and its vassal forces involved in the drawing up and execution of the sanctions policy toward the regime, according to the KCNA. (Yonhap)