“Serious intolerable provocation”: North Korea lashes out at UN for urgent meeting on hypersonic missile test

North Korea criticized on Sunday the urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to treat the firing of a missile presented as “hypersonic”, and accused member countries of playing with a “time bomb”.

The closed-door meeting, which lasted just over an hour, was requested by the United States, France and the United Kingdom after Pyongyang announced on September 29 that it had tested a “hypersonic” missile.

The five countries of the Security Council could not agree on a draft declaration, as “Russia and China reported that it was not relevant at this time,” according to a diplomatic source.

But the meeting caused outrage in Pyongyang, which on Sunday called it an “unjustified offense” to its sovereignty and a “Serious intolerable provocation.”

“Demanding that we relinquish our right to self-defense reflects their intention not to recognize the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a sovereign state.”said Jo Chol-su, head of international organizations at the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“I express my great concern that the United Nations Security Council has had fun this time using a dangerous ‘time bomb'”he added in a statement quoted by the official KCNA news agency.

On Friday, a few hours before the Security Council meeting, North Korea fired an anti-aircraft missile.

A few days earlier, Pyongyang claimed that it had successfully tested a “hypersonic” missile, much faster and difficult to intercept by defense systems.

________________________________