N Korea defiant on nukes

NEW YORK: North Korea’s ambassador to the UN told the General Assembly that “nobody can deny” the nuclear-armed country the right to test its weapons.

Kim Song’s comments at the UN headquarters in New York came just moments after South Korea’s military said the North had fired an “unidentified projectile” into the sea off its east coast.

“Nobody can deny the right to self-defence for (North Korea) to develop, test, manufacture and possess the weapon systems equivalent to the ones which are possessed or being developed by them,” Mr Kim said, referring to South Korea and the US.

“We are just building up our national defence in order to defend ourselves and reliably safeguard the security and peace of the country.”

Pyongyang is under multiple sets of international sanctions over its banned nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs. It has already carried out several missile tests this month, one involving a long-range cruise missile and another with short-range ballistic missiles.

Seoul recently successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile, making it one of a handful of nations with the advanced technology.

The launch early Tuesday on the Korean Peninsula came as the North was due to open a session of its rubber-stamp parliament.