South and North Korea clashed at the United Nations over the North's recent series of missile launches and the failed passing of fresh sanctions by the UN Security Council in response to the provocation.

A UN General Assembly meeting was held on Wednesday in New York to discuss vetoes by China and Russia on a U.S.-led resolution that would have imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea.

In the meeting, South Korean Ambassador to the UN Cho Hyun slammed the North's missile launches and the failed adoption by the Security Council of new sanctions.

Cho said that it is with deep regret that the Security Council, for the first time in handling the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programs since 2006, has failed to respond to the North's serious provocations.

Ambassador Cho then urged Pyongyang to stop such provocative actions, abide by all relevant Security Council resolutions, and respond to the call for dialogue and peace on the Korean Peninsula through complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Song, however, denounced all UN sanctions and contended that the U.S.-proposed resolution was “illegal,” saying it violated the UN Charter and international law.

Kim said that diplomatic engagement and dialogue without preconditions claimed by the U.S. are just a "smokescreen" to cover its hostile policy toward the North.

He emphasized that modernizing the North's armaments is within the scope of its sovereign right to self-defense to ensure his nation's security and interests from the direct threat of the United States.