North Korea said yesterday it was not bound by a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing weapons-related sanctions on it and insisted the country would ?bolster its war deterrent? in every way. The Security Council had acted with ?irresponsibility? by voting unanimously for a resolution requiring nations to prevent North Korea from acquiring dangerous weapons, an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

?Our Republic will bolster its war deterrent for self-defence in every way, by all means and methods, now that the situation has reached the worst phase due to the extremely hostile act of the U.S.,? the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency. North Korea refers to its military buildup and its weapons of mass destruction programs as its war deterrent, saying U.S.

military presence on the Korean peninsula are a prelude to war against it. Washington says its 30,000 troops there are deployed under an alliance with South Korea to deter a military threat from the North.

Saturday?s Security Council resolution condemns North Korea?s July 5 multiple missile launches and demands that Pyongyang suspend all missile activities and return to stalled six-country talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programs. The resolution requires all U.N. member states to prevent imports and exports of any material or funds relating to the reclusive Communist nation?s missile programs or weapons of mass destruction.

The 15-member Security Council had wrangled for 10 days over the response to North Korea?s test-firings of seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2, which could theoretically hit the continental United States but fell into the Sea of Japan. The Security Council was divided until hours before the vote over whether or not to cite Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows for military force, if another specific resolution is adopted.

China had threatened to veto the measure if Chapter 7 were mentioned, recalling the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that went ahead without specific Security Council authorization. Consequently, Japan, the United States, Britain and France had no choice but to drop the phrase.

North Korea could respond with another missile launch or possibly even conduct a nuclear test to show the world it is undaunted and undeterred, said Paik Hak-soon who heads North Korea studies at the Sejong Institute, a national security think tank near Seoul. North Korea has enough nuclear material to make as many as 13 atomic bombs, according to one recent study.

?But it is unlikely that the North will exhaust those cards too early,? Paik told Reuters. ?Pyongyang probably sees the resolution largely as a political, diplomatic move ? something Bush and Japan joined hands to accomplish, but does not bear much substantive effectiveness that did not exist before.? The council resolution was the first on North Korea since 1993, when the council urged Pyongyang to open military sites to nuclear inspectors and reverse its decision to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said North Korea set ?a world record? in rejecting the council resolution within 45 minutes of its adoption, adding: ?I could exercise the right of reply on behalf of the United States ? but on the other hand, why bother?? Japan initiated the resolution, and its vice minister for foreign affairs, Shintaro Ito, said the Security Council had ?acted swiftly and robustly in response to the reckless and condemnable act? of North Korea?s missile tests, which Tokyo considered a ?direct threat to its security?.

China?s U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, said Beijing was greatly concerned by the missile launches but urged nations not to add to tensions on the Korean peninsula. As North Korea?s closest ally, China sent a high-level mission to Pyongyang in the past week but failed to persuade it to return to the six-party nuclear talks. North Korea has insisted that Washington first lift financial sanctions imposed last year.