KYODO NEWS - Aug 31, 2017 - 21:46 | World, All

North Korea said Thursday that it "categorically rejects" a U.N. Security Council statement condemning its recent launch of a ballistic missile that flew over Japan, while it warned of "many more" missile tests to come.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman, in remarks carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, also accused the Security Council of having "flagrantly violated the right to self-defense of a sovereign state" by chastising North Korea in the way it did.



(KNS/Kyodo)

"The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK shall conduct many more of ballistic rocket launching drill targeting the Pacific to further modernize and increase the actual combat efficiency of its strategic force," the unidentified spokesman vowed, using an acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

On Tuesday, the Security Council, in a "presidential statement," condemned Pyongyang for its "outrageous actions" in firing of a ballistic missile over Japan earlier that day and demanded that it "immediately cease all such actions."

"The Security Council stresses that these DPRK actions are not just a threat to the region, but to all U.N. Member States," the statement continued.

KCNA claimed that the statement, which was read out by the Egyptian president of the 15-member body, was "rigged up" by the United States and its allies.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said the statement was "distorting the truth" when it asserted that North Korea is deliberately undermining regional peace and stability and causing grave security concerns around the world.

He justified the launch by calling it a response to a "belligerent" joint military exercise that the United States and South Korea went ahead with on Aug. 21 in defiance of Pyongyang's warnings. The exercise, involving tens of thousands of troops, ended Thursday.

"The U.S. had denied the DPRK's proactive measures to defuse the extreme tension and acted with imprudence. It is another lesson learned by the DPRK that only actions speak to the U.S., not polite words," he said.