North Korea said Thursday that no one should dispute an independent country exercising its sovereign right, referring to its earlier statement hinting a long-range rocket launch and nuclear test. 

The North's propaganda Web site Uriminzokkiri said that peaceful space development is a legitimate right of a sovereign nation as recognized under international law. It also claimed that strengthening nuclear deterrence is a justified self-defense measure that no other country should dispute. 

The Web site said South Korea and the U.S. are needlessly taking issue with a sovereign country exercising its legitimate right by calling it a military provocation and violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

The North said that such a reaction is intolerable and denies North Korea of its integrity and sovereign rights. 

It said Seoul and Washington are engaging in real provocations, accusing the U.S. of undertaking various means to strike down its nuclear power while the South Korean military prepares to test fire missiles with a range of 800 kilometers.

Uriminzokkiri warned that if the U.S. and South Korea continue to infringe on and challenge the North's sovereignty, then Pyongyang will intensify its responses.

Meanwhile, state-run North Korean media including the Korean Central News Agency and the ruling party's newspaper Rodong Sinmun have not yet mentioned long-range rockets or a nuclear test.