North Korea condemned the United Nations Security Council for holding a meeting at the request of the U.S. to discuss its recent attempt to launch a satellite, committing to continue rejecting sanctions and taking "self-defense" measures, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency on Sunday. Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a senior official in the ruling party, stated that "the Security Council meeting is another indication that the council operates as a political subordinate to the United States by accepting Washington's request and ignoring the country's right to develop space-related activities."
She expressed strong dissatisfaction that the Security Council routinely "criticizes our exercise of political rights at the behest of the United States, which we strongly condemn and reject as the most unfair and biased interference in our internal affairs and a violation of our sovereignty."
The launch of the satellite was described as a "countermeasure and legitimate act of self-defense" against increasing threats from the United States and its allies, whom Pyongyang accuses of escalating tensions through their annual military exercises in the spring. Kim's sister emphasized that her country would "never recognize UN sanctions even if imposed hundreds or thousands of times," pledging to continue exercising its sovereign rights, including launching reconnaissance satellites.
Last week, the United States called for a Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea's attempt to place its first reconnaissance satellite into orbit, an attempt that ended in failure with the rocket booster and payload falling into the sea.
