N. Korea accuses UN of 'double standard' for criticizing recent missile test

North Korea on Monday accused the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) of violating its sovereignty and applying a "double standard" as it is set to hold a meeting this week to discuss Pyongyang's recent missile launches.

Jo Chol-su, director-general of the Department of International Organizations of North Korea's foreign ministry, made the criticism in a statement, as the UNSC is to hold a closed-door meeting Tuesday after the North test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles last week.

"I strongly denounce the moves of UNSC as a serious infringement upon the dignity of an independent state and its sovereignty and a wanton violation of the UN Charter, as UNSC is holding meetings on and conducting investigations into the DPRK with its extreme bias and double standard," Jo said in the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We will never condone the moves of some members of UNSC for abusing the United Nations in their pursuits of ulterior motives to trample on the sovereignty of independent countries and hold in check their development," he added. "Any attempt to infringe upon our right to self-defense will inevitably prompt a countermeasure in kind."

Apparently referring to the recent joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, Jo also pointed out that the UNSC remains "silent" for carrying out "war drills" against the North, while "picking on" Pyongyang taking "self-defensive countermeasures."

"If this is the conduct of UNSC, we are only compelled to look at the cases of US, UK and France picking a quarrel with our self-defensive measure," he added.

North Korea confirmed Friday that it test-fired new tactical guided missiles a day earlier without leader Kim Jong-un's attendance.

This marked the North's first launch of ballistic missiles in about a year and also the first of its kind since the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration.

Over the weekend, the North accused Biden for making a "provocation" for criticizing the missile test-firing during his first press conferences since taking office.

The UNSC meeting scheduled for this week comes days after a meeting of the UN sanctions committee on North Korea was held to discuss the North's latest missile launches.

Seoul's unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said that it is "not desirable" to take any action that could undercut the momentum for dialogue at a time when the two Koreas and the US should resume talks.

"Now is the time for the South, the North and the US to make efforts to keep dialogue alive, and we want to emphasize again that such a thing that could make it difficult to create a mood for talks is not desirable at all," Lee Jong-joo, the ministry's spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.

"Under no circumstances should military tensions be created, and with that in mind, our government wants to say once again that we will continue to make efforts toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, establishment of peace and advancement in inter-Korean ties," she added. (Yonhap)