N. Korea Denounces ‘Hostile’ U.S. Sanctions, Drills

North Korea denounced new U.S. sanctions against its regime and said next week’s naval exercises involving South Korean and American forces posed a threat to regional peace.

“The sanctions are a direct expression of intensified hostility,” Ri Tong Il, a member of North Korea’s delegation to Asia’s biggest security forum in Hanoi, said today. “The U.S. should make concrete steps toward engaging in dialogue if it is serious about ridding the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons.”