SEOUL: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has started to extract plutonium from spent fuel rods at its nuclear arms plant, its foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The announcement came hours after a UN Security Council committee on Friday placed three DPRK companies on a UN blacklist for aiding Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs, eliciting a sharp rebuke from a DPRK envoy.

The DPRK has lashed out at being punished for its April 5 rocket launch, seen as a disguised long-range missile test that violated UN resolutions, saying it would boycott six-way nuclear talks and bolster its nuclear deterrent.