[Exclusive interview] North Korea's UN ambassador to the United Nations "I can't resist even with sanctions"

While the UN Security Council convened an emergency public meeting to respond to North Korea's ICBM launch, SBS reporters met with North Korean UN Ambassador Kim Seong in New York, USA to hear their views.

As the only North Korean diplomatic mission located on US territory, the North Korean UN mission acts as a communication channel between the United States and North Korea. As such, Ambassador Kim's remarks are considered a message from North Korea to the United States.

Regarding the emergency meeting of the Security Council, Ambassador Kim said, "Even if there is a UN Security Council meeting, we do not care because we exercised our rights in self-defense and lawful."

"We have never acknowledged sanctions until now," he said.

It is argued that the Security Council sanctions are not justified.

The UN Security Council is likely to discuss further reducing North Korea's supply of crude oil and refined products, which are still limited.

This is because the resolution adopted in 2017 includes a so-called 'oil trigger' clause that automatically reduces oil supply if North Korea tests another nuclear test or launches an ICBM.

In response, Ambassador Kim expressed his intention to continue launching missiles, saying, "We are not immune to any sanctions because we have self-sufficient national economic distance."

However, it is unclear whether measures to further tighten the North Korean oil supply will be implemented.

Because of China and Russia.

Additional sanctions against North Korea require unanimous approval from the members of the UN Security Council, as Russia, which has been at odds with the West over the recent invasion of Ukraine, is likely to disagree with the US-led sanctions on North Korea.

China is also known to have delivered a stance against sanctions to the United States, so there is an analysis that the possibility of additional UN sanctions on North Korea is actually low.