North Korea accuses the United States of “double talk” over missile test

North Korea accused the United States of “double talk” over its weapons tests, state media reported Thursday after an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the issue.

Pyongyang fired a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Tuesday, the latest in a series of tests in recent weeks, prompting Washington and London to convene the diplomatic meeting in New York.

But a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the test was not directed at the United States, but was done “purely for the defense of the country.”

“There is no need for the United States to worry or bother about test shots.”the spokesman said in a statement released by the official KCNA agency.

He added that Washington’s criticism of the North for “developing and testing the same weapons system that the United States owns or is developing is a clear expression of double talk.”

“Arouse our suspicions“On the sincerity of Washington’s insistence that it has no hostile intentions toward the country, he said.

North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un recently blamed the United States for tensions over his arms program.

US President Joe Biden has promised to keep the search for a diplomatic rapprochement with Pyongyang open.

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