North Korea says it plans to maintain its nuclear deterrent.

An Myong-hun, a diplomat from the North Korean mission in Geneva, told the Conference on Disarmament on Friday that the North’s sovereignty and rights to economic development have been seriously threatened by the policies of a number of countries, and that such policies have led the North to seek a nuclear deterrent for self-defense purposes.

The envoy also warned that South Korea and Japan’s condemnation of the North’s second nuclear test in a recent plenary meeting of the conference has worsened the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Mr. An added that his country has always supported a “complete nuclear arms reduction,” urging other nuclear powers to take the lead in the movement to disarm.