North Korea hits back at UN after condemnation of missile tests

North Korea has strongly dismissed a recent statement by the United Nations (UN) condemning its recent ballistic missile launches, threatening to take “eventful action” over the UN criticism.

The 15-member UN Security Council on Friday announced its condemnation in a unanimous statement drafted by the US and supported by China, expressing “serious concern” about North Korea’s four ballistic missile launches in July and August.

The statement further demanded that North Korea “refrain from further actions, including nuclear tests,” and called on all UN member states “to redouble their efforts” to implement sanctions against Pyongyang.

A spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the UN statement was a “product of brigandish acts of the US.”

“Now that the US posed threats to the dignity and the right to existence of the DPRK (North Korea) defying its serious warning, it will continue to take a series of eventful action steps as a full-fledged military power,” the spokesman said.

North Korea became the target of the toughest-ever sanctions imposed against it when it conducted its fourth nuclear test in January this year.

It also launched a long-range rocket in February, which, according to Pyongyang, was aimed at placing an earth observation satellite into orbit. However, the US and South Korea denounced the practice as a cover for an intercontinental ballistic missile test.​

On Wednesday, North Korea test-fired a submarine-based ballistic missile from its eastern coast days after the US and South Korea began their annual military exercises.

South Korean officials said the submarine-launched missile flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles) before falling into the Sea of Japan.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, however, described the missile test as the “greatest success,” adding that it put the US mainland and the Pacific “within the striking range.”

North Korean Foreign Ministry official Jon Min Dok had earlier said that the US-led discussions at the UN were a “terrible provocation.”

Jon also assured that the missile test did not cause any harm to the security of neighboring countries, but rather showed the country’s “great power and inexhaustible strength in the face of the trials of history and the challenges of our enemies.”

North Korea has pledged to develop a nuclear arsenal in a bid to protect itself from the US military, which occasionally deploys nuclear-powered warships and aircraft capable of carrying atomic weapons in the region.

Washington also holds joint military maneuvers with Seoul, which Pyongyang views as preparations for war and a direct threat against its security.

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