By Kim Young-jin



A North Korean diplomat has slammed any “armed aggression of a sovereign country,” Pyongyang’s state media said Monday, in what was seen as a thinly-veiled jab at the United States for its role in the international campaign against the Libyan regime.



According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the envoy, attending a U.N. special session last week, accused Washington of launching “armed aggression” against an unspecified sovereign country in the Middle East, calling it an act of terrorism.



"The acts of armed aggression of sovereign countries under the pretext of an anti-terror campaign should never be condoned under any circumstances," the KCNA quoted the envoy as telling a U.N. special session last week.



The remark came as the international air campaign against Gadhafi’s forces continues under tightened resolve. Washington has handed over the operation to its NATO allies.



It also came a week after a bipartisan group of lawmakers submitted legislation to reinstate the North as a state sponsor of terrorism following two deadly attacks on the South last year.



Pyongyang remains opposed to all forms of terrorism, the report quoted the envoy as saying.



Washington removed Pyongyang from the list in 2008 in a bid to resuscitate a deal on ending its nuclear weapons programs. The North has carried out multiple terrorist attacks on the South including the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner.



The Obama administration says not enough evidence has been found to reinstate the North on the terrorism blacklist.



Regional tension remains high over Pyongyang’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island last November and the sinking of the Cheonan warship months earlier, but a recent flurry of diplomacy suggests the two Koreas could soon sit down to denuclearization talks.



However some analysts said the case in Libya, which jettisoned its nuclear program, has decreased the chances of Pyongyang ever giving up its own program.