In an interview with the North's Korean Central News Agency, a spokesman for the foreign ministry denounced the bill signed into law Wednesday that also calls for sanctions on Russia and Iran.

"The US adoption of sanctions law against the DPRK is no more than last-ditch efforts by those who are terrified at the series of measures taken by the DPRK in rapid succession to develop a sophisticated nuclear force," said the unnamed spokesman, according to an English dispatch from the KCNA.

DPRK is an acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The spokesman accused the US of challenging the UN Charter and international law by applying its federal law to international relations.

"That is why the DPRK strongly condemns and rejects the so called unilateral sanctions by the US, and all other countries in the world also need to seriously ponder over the outrageous and unlawful act of the US," he said.

The new law sanctions those providing the North with crude oil and other products that help its nuclear and missile programs. They are among the first penalties to be imposed on Pyongyang following its two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles last month.

It also prohibits North Korean ships and goods produced by North Korean forced labor from entering the US.

"The sanctions campaign by the US might work on the other countries, but never with the DPRK," the spokesman claimed. "The US sanctions provide further justification for the DPRK's measures to intensify the development its nuclear force.

"The US had better deliberate on the ways to ensure its home security rather than wasting its energy on the hopeless sanctions racket against the DPRK." (Yonhap)