Moscow/Seoul: Amid widescale criticism over its latest long scale rocket launch, North Korean embassy in Russia has said that the country will continue to launch rockets carrying satellites for the purpose of space exploration.
"The state agency on space exploration, following the policy of the Workers' Party of Korea on giving priority to science and technology, will continue to launch more man-made satellites," the embassy said in a statement on Sunday, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
According to the statement, the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite,named after late leader Kim Jong II, aimed for probing the Earth is circulating on the polar orbit with an inclination of 97.4 degrees.
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The United States, China, Japan, South Korea, France and Russia have condemned the satellite launch by Pyongyang.
Tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs escalated after Pyongyang said on January 6 that it had successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test, triggering condemnation from the international community.
North Korea previously reported a successful satellite launch in 2012, in violation of the UN Security Council resolution.
The UN Security Council has also strongly condemned the launch using ballistic missile technology by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday, said a press statement of the council.
The statement was released after the Security Council met in an emergency session here on Sunday morning.
"This launch, as well as any other DPRK launch that uses ballistic missile technology, even if characterised as a satellite launch or space launch vehicle, contributes to the DPRK's development of nuclear weapon delivery systems," Xinhua quoted the statement as saying.
The launch is a serious violation of Security Council resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), and 2094 (2013), it said.
The members of the Security Council restated their intent to develop significant measures in a new Security Council resolution in response to the nuclear test conducted by the DPRK on January 6, it said.
