US slaps sanctions on key N. Korea bank

NEW YORK (AFP) - The United States on Monday slapped sanctions on North Korea's primary foreign exchange bank as it bids to force the isolated nation to abandon its nuclear program.

The Treasury Department will impose sanctions on the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea after Pyongyang flouted international resolutions and conducted its third nuclear test last month, US national security advisor Tom Donilon said.

The United States will "continue to work with allies and partners to tighten national and international sanctions to impede North Korea's nuclear and missile programs," Mr Donilon told the Asia Society in New York.

The announcement came as South Korea and the United States launched joint drills Monday involving thousands of troops, defying North Korea's apocalyptic threat to repudiate the 60-year-old Korean War armistice in retaliation.