Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has denounced the U.N. Security Council's call to meet after Pyongyang attempted to launch a spy satellite days ago.
In remarks carried by the North's KCNA news agency on Sunday, Kim expressed displeasure at the Security Council's repeated criticism of what she called her country's sovereign rights "in fulfillment of the wishes of the United States."
The senior official in the ruling Workers' Party accused the U.N. Security Council of political subservience to the United States by accepting Washington's request and ignoring what she called North Korea's right to develop space-related activities.
"I deeply dismay that the Security Council routinely criticizes our exercise of political rights in accordance with the wishes of the United States, and we strongly condemn and reject this as the most unjust and biased act of interference in our internal affairs and violation of our sovereignty," the official agency quoted her as saying.
Attempted satellite launch ended in failure (Reuters)
The sister of the North Korean leader described Wednesday's satellite launch as a "countermeasure and legitimate self-defense" against what she called growing threats from the United States and its allies, whom Pyongyang accuses of stoking tensions through military exercises.
Kim Yo Jong vowed that her country would continue to exercise its sovereign rights, including launching spy satellites, stressing that Pyongyang would never recognize U.N. sanctions "even if they were imposed hundreds and thousands of times."
The United States denounced the attempt by North Korea and its allies to put North Korea's first spy satellite into orbit, which ended in failure.
In remarks the day after the operation failed, the North Korean leader's sister said her country would soon succeed in putting a satellite into orbit.