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The missile was launched from a North Korean submarine
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In the past few weeks, North Korea said it had launched rockets on a regular basis. The latest test of a submarine missile was sharply criticized by the UN Security Council. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Pyongyang described the reactions of the UN Security Council and the USA as "nonsensical," as the state news agency KCNA reported. It was a "legitimate" plan to strengthen self-defense. And: The rocket launch was not aimed at the USA.
"It is a clear double standard that the United States denounces us because we have developed and tested the same weapons system that they already have or are developing," the State Department spokesman for KCNA is quoted as saying.
He also questioned the recent statement by the US government that North Korea is not hostile.
"Pattern of provocations" by North Korea
After the recent Pyongyang missile test, members of the UN Security Council met behind closed doors in New York. "The rocket launch (...) is part of a pattern of provocations by North Korea," announced the UN ambassadors of council members France, Ireland and Estonia on Wednesday. They called on the country to abide by the UN sanctions imposed on it. The representatives of the USA and Great Britain made similar statements. However, there was initially no joint statement.
North Korea's leadership had a ballistic missile tested for the eighth time this year.
As the state news agency KCNA reported, the latest missile is said to be a submarine-based ballistic missile "new type" which "brings the country's defense technology to a high level and improves the underwater operational capability of our navy."
North Korea had tested missiles several times in the past few weeks.
At the end of September, Pyongyang last reported the successful test of a hypersonic missile.
If the North Korean information is correct, the internationally isolated country would have reached a further stage in upgrading its arsenal.
UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles, which, depending on their design, can also carry a nuclear warhead.
muk / dpa
