Pyongyang justifies missle launch, refutes UN condemnation

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday dismissed criticism from the international community for its test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

The DPRK's successful test-fire of the SLBM was "the exercise of the just right to self-defence to safeguard the sovereignty and the country's right to exist" as well as from "the US's escalating threat of nuclear war," a spokesman for the foreign ministry was quoted by the state-run news agency KCNA as saying.

The DPRK announced Sunday that it had conducted a successful underwater test-fire of a strategic submarine ballistic missile; it added that the country's top leader Kim Jong Un guided the test.

This was the second time the DPRK's state-run media had announced the success of a SLBM test-fire since May 9, 2015 when the KCNA reported that Kim watched the testing of a newly developed SLBM.

The latest launch has provoked worldwide condemnation. Pyongyang has been accused of developing ballistic missile technology which is banned under several UN Security Council resolutions against the country.

The UN Security Council on Sunday "strongly" condemned the missile test, saying "this incident constituted yet another serious violation by the DPRK of UN Security Council resolutions."

The Security Council has adopted five resolutions to curb the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs. The latest one adopted in March imposes the most severe sanctions yet on the country, including an export ban and asset freeze.

Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea on Sunday denounced Pyongyang's latest SLBM launch, and Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday that the country had lodged an official protest with the DPRK and described the recent firing as a "provocative" act.

A DPRK foreign ministry spokesman says that his country will ignore all resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council "that side with vicious moves by the US against the DPRK."

He blamed the United States for jeopardizing peace and security on the Korean Peninsula through nuclear war games that target the DPRK, including the mobilization of a nuclear submarine to South Korea.

He said that as a consistently hostile policy by the US and nuclear threats against the DPRK leave the country no alternative but to "ensure a balance of force" through "nuclear deterrence".

"The US's pursuit of an extremely hostile policy and nuclear threats and blackmail against the DPRK will embolden the latter to make progress in bolstering its nuclear attack capabilities." the spokesman added.