DPRK vows to launch more satellites

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday said it will continue to send more satellites into space under its national blueprint for space development.

A spokesman for the DPRK National Aerospace Development stressed in a statement that a satellite launch by the DPRK and its right to use space for peaceful purposes was "legitimate."

The spokesman refuted claims by South Korea that the true intention behind Pyongyang's satellite program is not for peaceful purposes.

In the statement carried by the official news agency KCNA, the spokesman said the DPRK will launch more Juche satellites.

The statement came amid South Korea's strong denunciation of the DPRK over its test-launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Thursday, which Seoul's military presumed to have failed.

Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement that the missile launch violates the United Nations Security Council resolutions and poses a grave threat to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.

The resolutions ban the DPRK from launching a rocket by use of any ballistic missile technologies because a long-range rocket and a ballistic missile have overlapping technologies.

The DPRK delegate attending the 71st session of UN General Assembly in New York denounced the resolutions as "a wanton violation of the legitimate right of a sovereign state" and "a product of a hostile U.S. policy toward the DPRK."

On Sept. 9, Pyongyang said it had successfully tested a nuclear warhead, which marked its fifth nuclear test, eight months after it conducted a purported hydrogen bomb test in January. It also launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7.

In March, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on tougher sanctions against the DPRK to curb the country's nuclear and missile programs. Security Council members also called for an early resumption of the six-party talks. Endi