A North Korean diplomat has said the North will never give up its nuclear deterrence and its journey toward nuclear armament will continue.

Ju Yong-chol, a counselor at the North's permanent mission to the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland, made the remarks on Thursday during a session of the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament.

Ju said that his country will not respond to any negotiations that ask the North to denuclearize first.

He said that the North's measures to enhance its defense power are a legitimate exercise of its right to self-defense, claiming that there is no provision in the UN Charter classifying ballistic missile launches as a threat to international peace and security.

The envoy exercised the right of reply in the meeting as the United States, South Korea and other countries called on the North to stop nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches.

Ju countered that South Korea and the U.S. conduct various military exercises every year that he claimed pose a serious threat to the North's security, adding that Western countries should condemn the two countries for escalating military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.