PYONGYANG: North Korea “bitterly condemned” and rejected the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting held over Pyongyang’s failed spy satellite launch, state media reported on Sunday.
In a press statement, Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister and a key ruling party official called the UNSC meeting an “unfair and biased act” of interfering in its internal affairs and violating its sovereignty, according to Korea Central News Agency (KCNA).
“I am very unpleased that the UNSC so often calls to account the DPRK’s exercise of its rights as a sovereign state at the request of the US, and bitterly condemn and reject it as the most unfair and biased act of interfering in its internal affairs and violating its sovereignty,” she said.
This response came after the US requested a UNSC meeting last week to address North Korea’s failed effort to launch its first spy satellite into orbit, which resulted in the launcher and payload crashing into the sea.
Kim Yo Jong, who is also vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) slammed the UNSC for holding a meeting in response to a “gangster-like US request,” vowing to resist sanctions and take steps to defend itself, as per KCNA.
“The UNSC held a meeting to take up the DPRK’s right to satellite launching as a single agenda item at the US gangster-like request. As a result, it produced another shameful record of working as a political appendage of an individual country,” the press statement said.
“It is today’s universal reality that over 5 000 satellites with various aims and missions are now in their orbits around the Earth and even private companies are taking an active part in the space development,” it added.
She also stated that the UNSC is trying to unilaterally deprive the DPRK of its sovereignty and rights to existence and development, blindly following the articles of the illegal and unfair anti-DPRK “sanctions resolutions” cooked up 10-odd years ago. This is a very dangerous activity as it can cause a serious imbalance of power in the region and structural damage to the peace and stability. If the UNSC persists in its unfair and prejudiced anti-DPRK action, it should give a responsible answer to whether it is capable of defusing the ensuing serious instability of the situation and guaranteeing the security of the regional countries.
Earlier, on Wednesday, a military spy satellite launched by North Korea crashed into the Yellow Sea.
According to KCNA, North Korea launched “Malligyong-1,” the military reconnaissance satellite mounted on a new-type rocket named “Chollima-1,” at its rocket launching station on the west coast at 6:27 am (local time).
The carrier rocket fell in the Yellow Sea “after losing thrust due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine after the separation of the first stage during the normal flight,” said KCNA in an English-language dispatch.
The failure was due to “the low reliability and stability of the new-type engine system and unstable character of the fuel used,” read the KCNA report, citing a spokesperson of the state-run space development agency.
North Korea also said that it would thoroughly investigate the serious defects that emerged in the latest satellite launch and take necessary measures to overcome them, pledging to “conduct the second launch as soon as possible through various part tests.” (ANI)