N.Korea promises 'strong steps' if UN acts over rocket launch

NEW YORK, April 8 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea will respond with "strong steps" if the UN Security Council takes any action over Pyongyang's recent rocket launch, a senior diplomat in the reclusive state said, reiterating that the launch was peaceful.

North Korea launched a multistage rocket that it said was carrying a communications satellite at 11:30 a.m. (02:30 a.m. GMT) on Sunday, defying pressure from the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries, which suspect the launch was a cover for a test of a Taepodong-2 long-range missile.

Pak Tok Hun, North Korea's deputy ambassador to UN, told journalists in the corridors of the UN headquarters on Tuesday, that "if the Security Council - they take any kind of steps whatever" Pyongyang will consider this as an encroachment on the country's sovereignty "and the next option will be ours."

He added that "necessary" and "strong steps" will follow, but did not specify what kind of measures could be taken in response.

The 15-member Security Council convened for an emergency meeting late on Sunday at Japan's request, to discuss sanctions against Pyongyang over the launch, but strong opposition from Russia and China prevented the adoption of even a preliminary statement of condemnation.

Pak said the criticism of the satellite launch is "not fair" and contradicts the norms of democracy as the organization has not taken any measures against other countries that have launched hundreds of satellites.

"While they themselves launch more than a hundred times the satellites ...we are not allowed to do that. That is not democratic," the diplomat said adding that "every country has the right... to use the outer space peacefully."

The diplomat also denied earlier reports that Iranian experts were present in North Korea as observers, saying that the satellite launch was based solely on the country's technology and conducted by Korean experts.

"I don't have any idea about that. I don't know who reported that. A launching of the satellite is entirely based on our technology," he said.

North Korea claims the rocket, which was launched over Japan, successfully delivered a communications satellite into orbit, but the U.S. and South Korean militaries said all three stages fell into the ocean and that "no object entered orbit."

The U.S. and other countries argued for sanctions against Pyongyang, saying that the launch violated Security Council Resolution 1718, which was passed after North Korea's 2006 nuclear test, but Russia and China called for restraint on the grounds that the resolution does not prohibit the launch of satellites.