Pyongyang accuses UN of ‘double standard’ after latest missile test
Seoul, Mar 29 (efe-epa).- North Korea Monday accused the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) of a double standard over its reaction to the latest missile tests by Pyongyang.
“Our test fire of new-type tactical guided missile on Mar.25 is an exercise of righteous self-defensive right to deter military threats posed to the Korean peninsula and safeguard peace and prosperity of our state,” Jo Chol Su, a North Korea foreign ministry official, said in a statement carried by the state-run media.
Jo said the reaction by the UN body was “a denial of sovereign state and an apparent double standard that the UNSC takes” over such issues.
He said the UN resolutions against Pyongyang were “direct products of the US hostile policy toward (North Korea).”
North Korea last week launched two short-range guided ballistic projectiles into the sea, defying UN resolutions on such launches by Pyongyang.
It was the first such test by the North in about a year and the first since Joe Biden became president of the United States in January.
The UNSC Sanctions Committee, which manages the sanctions imposed on North Korea, met on Mar.25 to discuss new punitive measures against the country.
The council is likely to hold a closed-door meeting Tuesday over the issue.
The North Korean official criticized the UNSC’s decision to hold the meeting and accused the international body of “extreme bias.”
Jo argued that “it does not make any sense” that only its tests be singled out for denunciation.
“Many other countries across the globe are firing all kinds of projectiles for the purpose of increasing their military strength,” he said.
The statement described the UN’s actions “as a serious infringement upon the dignity of an independent state and its sovereignty and a wanton violation of the UN Charter.”
The North Korean official accused some UNSC members of “abusing the United Nations in their pursuits of ulterior motives to trample on the sovereignty of independent countries and hold in check their development.”
He threatened that such attempts would invite consequences but did not elaborate.
North Korea on Saturday called the US president’s criticism of its missile testing during his first press conference after taking office as an act of “provocation.” EFE-EPA
asb-mra/pd/ssk
