"It is the height of folly for the US to think that it can solve any issue by means of sanctions and pressure," the spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

It said the US Treasury Department was tracing North Korea-opened bank accounts in "at least 10 countries" in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian states as well as Mongolia and Russia.

"Now that the Bush administration is escalating its pressure upon the DPRK through the tightened financial sanctions in a bid to keep itself politically alive, the DPRK is left with no other option but to take all necessary counter-measures to protect its ideology, system, sovereignty and dignity."

The spokesman, however, did not elaborate on what counter-measures could be taken, according to the KCNA report monitored here.

The warning came as a pro-Pyongyang newspaper said North Korea -- which declared it had nuclear weapons in February 2005 -- could carry out a nuclear test unless the US stops attempts to "stifle and destroy" the communist state.

"We can't say for sure that the DPRK (North Korea) will not conduct nuclear testing to bolster its self-defence capability," the Choson Sinbo said in an editorial Saturday.

South Korea has stepped up the monitoring of North Korean nuclear activities. Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-Ung told parliament Friday that Seoul suspects North Korea possesses one or two nuclear weapons and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon has warned Pyongyang of grave consequences and a severe international response if it carries out a nuclear test.

The United States and South Korea -- both parties to stalled nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, along with China, Japan and Russia -- have warned Pyongyang against any such tests.

Diplomatic efforts to jumpstart the six-party talks have intensified since North Korea test-fired seven ballistic missiles last month, drawing international condemnation and a sharp rebuke from the UN Security Council.

But North Korea's isolation has deepened since the tests, with its traditional allies of China and Russia even approving the UN Security Council resolution imposing weapons-related sanctions on Pyongyang.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il openly criticized China and Russia as unreliable at an emergency ambassadorial meeting held in Pyongyang soon after the UN move, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported from New York Saturday, citing unnamed sources.

North Korea left the talks in November 2005 and said it would not return until US financial sanctions were dropped -- a stance reiterated on Saturday.

Koh Yu-Hwan, a North Korea expert and professor at Seoul's Dongkuk University, said the Saturday statement should be noted for the unveiling of Pyongyang's desire to return to the six-way talks.

"The statement shows North Korea wants to keep six-way talks alive. Pyongyang does not want to break the dialogue framework which it should return to someday," Koh said.

The United States has moved to freeze North Korean funds it claims are the profits of drug trafficking, money laundering and other illegal activities.

Last month, Stuart Levey, the US Treasury Department's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, visited Vietnam, South Korea, Japan and Singapore to discuss the issue.

But the North Korean spokesman added: "The DPRK is neither a 'law-breaking state' nor a 'state counterfeiting notes' as claimed by the US. On the contrary, it has fallen victim to the issue of counterfeit notes and their circulation due to the US."

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