DPRK Foreign Ministry says ICBM test-fire a 'legitimate exercise'

The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said the test-fire of the country's latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was "a legitimate and just exercise of its sovereign right to self-defense" and part of the counteraction in response to the provocative moves by hostile forces, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday.

In a statement issued on Friday, as reported by the KCNA, a DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman accused the United States and its followers of intending to convene a meeting of the UN Security Council with an aim to "seriously encroach upon the DPRK's right to self-defense," in addition to staging joint air drills of aggressive nature on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity while viciously slandering the reasonable exercise of sovereignty by the DPRK.

The Foreign Ministry expresses serious concern over the hostile forces' confrontational behavior to create a critical situation against the DPRK security environment, and strongly denounces and rejects this act as "a wanton violation of the UN Charter and other recognized international laws" and "a grave challenge to international peace and security," the statement said.

"It is the steadfast strategic option and will of the DPRK to thoroughly deter the danger of an outbreak of a nuclear war and powerfully control and manage the political and military situation in the region by countering the ever-dangerous military threat of the U.S. and its vassal forces with the overwhelmed and absolute power," said the statement.

The DPRK on Thursday conducted a "crucial" test of its latest ICBM Hwasongpho-19.