MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2018) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hit back at "hostile forces" on Friday for piling sanctions on his country, amid US calls to maintain pressure on Pyongyang, state media said.
Speaking at a tourist construction site in the coastal area of Wonsan-Kalma, Kim said "hostile forces [were] trying to stifle the Korean people through brigandish sanctions and blockade," KCNA said.
The news agency quoted the leader of the reclusive Communist state as describing the standoff with the West as a "a do-or-die struggle to defend the prestige of the Party."
Kim was previously reported by US media as describing demands for North Korea to denuclearize as "gangster-like."
At their historic summit, the US and North Korean leaders reached a deal that would see Pyongyang exchange its nuclear weapons for relief from US sanctions.
