A North Korean diplomat has claimed that North Korea conducted a missile launch in response to security threats posed by the combined military exercises of South Korea and the U.S.

Han Tae-song, the North's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, made the remark on Thursday during a session of the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in reference to the North's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) earlier that day.

Han said that South Korea and the U.S. launched large-scale joint exercises this week, mobilizing the latest military equipment to conduct what he described as unprecedentedly aggressive and provocative war exercises.

The ambassador said that the North's latest missile launch was part of efforts to respond to provocations that seriously threaten North Korea's security interests and to build an overwhelming war deterrent.

He said that North Korea will guard peace in the Korean Peninsula based on strong deterrence until the hostile policies and military threat of the U.S. and what he called “its vassal forces” are completely eliminated.

In response, Kim Il-hoon, a counselor at South Korea's permanent mission to the UN Office in Geneva, said that North Korea must abide by UN Security Council resolutions, respect human rights and immediately cease its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

He urged Pyongyang to return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency and respond to Seoul's proposals for dialogue.