Missile test 'a sovereign right' says North Korean official

A North Korean foreign ministry official told Japanese journalists that the right to test missiles was a matter of national sovereignty, a Japanese TV report in South Korea said.

The footage, by the Japanese TBS network and broadcast by South Korea’s YTN, showed Ri Pyong Dok, from the North Korea's Foreign Ministry, saying no one can interfere in Pyongyang’s missile programme.

“The missile launch is an issue that is entirely within our sovereignty,” he said. “No one has the right to dispute about it.

“On the missile launch, we are not bound by any agreement.”