North Korea says Western sanctions cannot undermine its status as a nuclear-armed state

North Korea said Western sanctions and pressure would not alter its status as a nuclear-armed state, rejecting a new call by the United States and its partners for stricter enforcement of UN restrictions on Pyongyang.

“Sanctions and pressure may work on the weak but never on us,” an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.

“The stereotyped sanctions racket of the U.S. and the West can neither influence the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state,” the spokesperson added.

Pyongyang was responding to a joint statement by a multinational sanctions-monitoring group that includes the United States, Australia, Britain and South Korea. The group called on UN member states to fully enforce restrictions targeting North Korean overseas workers and military cooperation with the country.

UN Security Council resolutions adopted since 2006 seek to constrain North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, but Pyongyang has continued expanding both.

Independent estimates suggest the arsenal has grown substantially. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated in its 2026 yearbook that North Korea had assembled around 60 nuclear warheads and possessed enough fissile material to produce at least 30 more.

That compares with SIPRI’s estimate of roughly 10 to 20 nuclear weapons in 2018, although the organization stresses that all figures for North Korea remain highly uncertain because of the secrecy surrounding its program.

The latest statement comes as Washington has imposed additional sanctions on North Korean networks accused of generating revenue for the country’s weapons programs, while prospects for renewed diplomacy between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un remain uncertain.