North Korea protested against a public meeting of the UN Security Council(UNSC) to discuss the regime's recent testing of a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM), the Hwasong-18.

In a statement on Monday, Ri Pyong-chol, the vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Military Commission, said the regime's advanced strategic weapons development is a "legitimate self-defense reinforcement measure."

He said the program is aimed at defending the country from escalating U.S. military threats and expected regional security concerns, as well as to deter an outbreak of war.

The official condemned Washington for depicting Pyongyang's exercise of its right to self-defense as a "provocation" and "threat" through the UNSC, calling it a "blatant act of domestic interference."

Referring to Seoul and Washington's recent combined military drills as "nuclear intimidation," he said Pyongyang’s efforts to bolster self-defense measures would allow a balance of power and controlled security on the Korean Peninsula.

[Photo : YONHAP News]