North Korea has strongly denounced the recent Nuclear Consultative Group(NCG) session held between South Korea and the United States as an open declaration on nuclear confrontation.

The regime’s defense ministry issued the criticism on Sunday in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency right after launching a ballistic missile toward the East Sea.

The launch comes after Seoul and Washington held a second session of the NCG and agreed to complete the establishment of guidelines on the planning and operation of a shared nuclear strategy by the middle of next year.

The ministry reportedly condemned the outcome of the allies’ meeting as an open threat of a potential nuclear weapons attack against the North.

Through the statement Pyongyang also took issue with the arrival of America's nuclear-powered USS Missouri submarine at a naval base in Busan, accusing Washington and its followers of intensifying military tensions.

The ministry then warned that any attempt to use armed force against North Korea will face a preemptive and deadly counteraction.

[Photo : YONHAP News]