North Korea’s ambassador blames US for regional tensions in a rare appearance at UN Security Council

AP ^ | July 14, 2023 | EDITH M. LEDERER

[McGruff]

North Korea’s U.N. ambassador defended his country’s recent long-range missile launch in a rare appearance at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday where he also accused the United States of driving the situation in northeast Asia “to the brink of nuclear war.”

Kim Song told the council that Wednesday’s test-flight of the developmental Hwasong-18 missile was a legitimate exercise of the North’s right to self-defense. He said the United States was raising regional tensions with nuclear threats and deploying a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea for the first time in 14 years.

Kim said the missile launch had “no negative effect on the security of a neighboring country,” pointing to Japan’s announcement that the ICBM — which flew at a steep angle — landed in open waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

[McGruff]

Bonus news article

North Korean leader’s powerful sister says warplanes repelled US spy plane

https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-kim-sister-us-spy-plane-f27cd31a409f3d2a9f4fe6d72869db96

Very unprofessional behavior.