North Korea has expressed its condemnation of the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) meeting on the North’s claimed launch of a solid-fuel hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).

In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Saturday, the spokesperson of the North Korean Foreign Ministry said that the country greatly regrets and strongly condemns the fact that the Security Council discussed the North’s sovereign rights.

The ministry claimed that although the North’s test launch of a hypersonic missile did not affect the safety of its neighboring countries, the United States not only raised the issue at the Security Council but also conducted provocative joint military exercises with its followers in waters around the Korean Peninsula, in apparent reference to the combined naval drills among South Korea, the United States and Japan last week.

The ministry warned that Pyongyang will never condone the abnormal moves of the Security Council's criticism of North Korea’s efforts to strengthen its self-defense capabilities as illegal and stressed that the North will thoroughly protect its sovereign rights and legitimate interests with stronger action.

Last Thursday, the UNSC reportedly held informal consultations regarding non-proliferation and North Korea in order to discuss the North’s claimed launch of an IRBM last Sunday and the growing threat of North Korean aggression.

[Photo : YONHAP News]