The deputy chief of North Korea's permanent mission to the United Nations says the North’s artillery attack against Yeonpyeong Island should not be discussed by the U.N. Security Council.

Pak Duk-hoon made the remark when he met with reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York on Wednesday.

He said that the North’s attack was a self-defense measure that resulted from South Korea’s preemptive strike, claiming that at around 3 p.m. Tuesday, the South Korean military first fired a dozen rounds toward the North’s territorial waters.

Pak said the Security Council deals with issues that are considered to be a threat to international peace and security, adding that the recent incident is a regional matter that concerns the two Koreas.