N Korea rejects UNSC rebuke of missile tests, blames US for peninsula tensions

According to the reports, in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Saturday, the country’s Foreign Ministry also referred to the world body’s criticism as “a product of high-handedness wantonly violating the sovereignty of an independent state.” It went on to say that the move by Security Council was “an unreasonable deed of turning black into white.”

Pyongyang’s response came two days after the 15-member council slammed the missile tests, saying they were in “grave violation” of the country’s international obligations under five separate resolutions dating back to 2006, which ban all ballistic missile activity by North Korea.

“The members of the Security Council further regretted that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is diverting resources to the pursuit of ballistic missiles while Democratic People’s Republic of Korea citizens have great unmet needs,” said the council on Thursday.

The UNSC’s closed-door meeting was held late on Wednesday night at the request of the United States and Japan after both countries expressed alarm following back-to-back missile tests by North Korea.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pyongyang test-fired two Musudan mid-range ballistic missiles, which are reported to have a theoretical range of between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometers, making them capable of reaching any part of South Korea, Japan and the US territory of Guam in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.