North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says his country will continue developing nuclear programmes and will introduce a "new strategic weapon" in the near future.
The statement, reported by state media KCNA, came after the United States missed a year-end deadline set by Kim for a restart of denuclearisation talks
Kim convened a rare four-day party meeting as the United States didn't respond to his repeated calls to reopen negotiations, and instead dismissed the deadline as artificial.
The North Korean leader had previously warned he might have to seek a "new path" if Washington fails to meet his expectations.
There were no grounds for North Korea to be bound any longer by the self-declared nuclear test moratorium as the United States imposed sanctions and made "gangster-like demands", Kim said, according to KCNA.
He pledged to further develop North Korea's nuclear deterrent but left the door open for dialogue, saying the "scope and depth" of that deterrent will be "properly coordinated depending on" the attitude of the United States.
"The world will witness a new strategic weapon to be possessed... in the near future," Kim said.
Reuters
