North Korea: Nukes not 'bargaining chip'

North Korea continued its aggressive posturing Sunday with a promise to continue developing its nuclear weapons program.

In a statement released by the state-owned Korean Central News Agency, the ruling Worker's Party vowed to defy United Nations sanctions and pressure from the international community to discontinue its nuclear program.

Calling the armed forces "the nation's life," the statement said the weapons are not "a political bargaining chip nor a thing for economic dealings to be presented in the place of dialogue or to be put on the table of negotiations aimed at forcing the DPRK to disarm itself."

The statement is the latest in a series of increasingly bold rhetoric from Kim Jong Un and North Korea. The U.S. has responded by joining in exercises with its F-22 fighter jets and Monday announced it would deploy a guided missile detroyer in the Pacific in response to threats.