SEOUL: North Korea’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday it rejected a UN Security Council statement denouncing its latest missile launch test.
The North’s state-run KCNA news agency cited a spokesman at the ministry as saying the Sunday launch was a sovereign right and a self-defence measure.
North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday in an apparent provocation to test the response from new US President Donald Trump, the South Korean defence ministry said.
The missile launched around 7:55 am (2255 GMT Saturday) from Banghyon airbase in the western province of North Pyongan Province, flew east towards the Sea of Japan (East Sea), it said.
It flew about 500 kilometres (310 miles) before falling into the sea, a defence ministry spokesperson said.
It was the first missile test conducted by the North Korean regime since the Trump administration took the reins of the US government.
The test drew a strong response from the US President Donald Trump as well as the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who condemned the act.
The launch came on the heels of a visit to Seoul by new US Defence Secretary James Mattis last week, who had warned Pyongyang that any nuclear attack would be met with an “effective and overwhelming” response.
“Any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated and any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming,” Mattis had said.
