NEW YORK (Dispatches) – North Korea is exercising its right to self-defense with its latest satellite launch attempt earlier this week, North Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song has said.
During a UN Security Council meeting on Pyongyang’s latest satellite launch attempt on Friday Kim said, “Our launch of the reconnaissance satellite is an exercise of the right to self-defense,” Sputnik reported.
North Korea’s goal is to build its self-defense capability, he said, adding that the satellite launch did not cause any harm to the security of its neighboring country.
On Thursday, North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) conducted the second launch of reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 aboard the new-type carrier rocket Chollima-1.
The attempt, made at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Cholsan County of North Phyongan Province, failed after the rocket booster experienced a problem during its third stage. Pyongyang vowed to try for the third time in October.
Meanwhile, the United States ambassador to the United Nations accused China and Russia of blocking a unified UN Security Council response to North Korea’s missile tests.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the remarks during an emergency Security Council meeting on Friday, after Russia and China blocked a U.S. motion to condemn Pyongyang’s attempt to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit a day earlier.
In May last year, China and Russia vetoed a resolution imposing new sanctions on Pyongyang. The last unified Security Council action on North Korea took place in 2017.
Chinese and Russian representatives blamed Washington for North Korea’s tests, pointing to ongoing U.S. military drills with South Korea.
North Korea, which is under harsh sanctions by the United Nations and the United States for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, has been seeking to put what would be its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit, saying it plans a fleet of satellites to monitor moves by American and South Korean troops.
North Korea says its objective is to defend the nation against U.S. aggression exemplified in its continuous military drills and deployment of nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.