North Korea accuses US of double standards over weapons

North Korea said its weapons tests are for boosting its defence capabilities

A man watches a TV screen showing an image of North Korea's ballistic missile launch from a submarine at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. AP

North Korea said on Thursday the United States was overreacting to its recent missile test and questioned the sincerity of Washington's offers of talks, accusing it of operating “double standards” over weapons development.

Pyongyang has said in recent weeks that its weapons tests are aimed at boosting its defence capabilities, just as other countries do, accusing the United States, South Korea and the United Nations of adopting a hostile policy and “double standards” towards it.

This week's test of a new ballistic missile from a submarine was North Korea's normal activity to carry out its mid- and long-term defence plan and was not aimed at the US or any other country, an unnamed spokesperson at Pyongyang's foreign ministry said, according to the official KCNA news agency.

The spokesperson said Washington had nonetheless taken “very provocative moves” by calling for a gathering of the UN Security Council. The Security Council met on Wednesday following a request from the US.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, urged Pyongyang to comply with UN sanctions banning nuclear and missile tests and accept offers of talks, reiterating that Washington has no hostile intent towards it.

“It is time to engage in sustained and substantive dialogue towards the goal of complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” she told reporters, adding the US has offered to meet “without any preconditions”.

The North's foreign ministry spokesperson said the United States' “double standards” over missile development cast doubt over its overtures.

“To criticise the DPRK for developing and test-firing the same weapon system like the one the US possesses or is developing is a clear expression of double standards,” the spokesperson said in a statement carried by KCNA, using the acronym for the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

“It only excites our suspicion about the 'authenticity of its statement that it does not (want to) antagonise the DPRK.”

Any wrong behaviour by the US and the council could lead to “more serious consequences”, the spokesperson said, warning against “tampering with a dangerous time bomb”.