Seoul - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will continue to develop "formidable striking capabilities" that cannot be bartered or sold for anything, reported the state media on Monday. Kim made the remarks while he visited workers involved with the country's biggest missile test.

Kim met officials, scientists, technicians and workers who contributed to a missile launch on Thursday, which North Korea said was its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), reported state news agency KCNA.

While personally overseeing the test on Thursday, Kim said the new ICBM was to help deter any military moves by the United States. US remains technically at war with the North after the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace agreement.

Washington has sought to pressure Pyongyang into reducing its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ICBMs, which may be able to strike targets in the United States.

The United States said on Friday it will push United Nations sanctions on North Korea to be strengthened over "increasingly dangerous provocations,". The move was opposed by China and Russia, instead the countries have argued for such measures to be eased.

North Korea said Thursday's missile was the Hwasong-17, and Japan and South Korea confirmed that flight data showed the launch flew higher and longer than any previous North Korean test.

But analysts have hinted that state media coverage appeared to be trying to pass off footage from a previous launch. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday that intelligence officials in Seoul and Washington believe the North actually tested an older and slightly smaller Hwasong-15 ICBM.
-Reuters