SEOUL – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has said the test fire of its latest intercontinental ballistic missile was "a legitimate and just exercise of its sovereign right to self-defense", the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday.

The test fire was part of the counteraction in response to the provocative moves by hostile forces, the KCNA reported quoting a statement issued by the DPRK Foreign Ministry on Friday.

On Thursday, the DPRK conducted what it termed a "crucial" test of its latest intercontinental ballistic missile – Hwasongpho-19.

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A DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman accused the United States and its followers of intending to convene a meeting of the UN Security Council with an aim to "seriously encroach upon the DPRK's right to self-defense".

The move was in addition to staging joint air drills of an aggressive nature on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity while viciously slandering the reasonable exercise of sovereignty by the DPRK, the spokesman added.

The ministry also expressed serious concern over the hostile forces' confrontational behavior to create a critical situation against the DPRK security environment.

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It strongly denounced and rejected the act as "a wanton violation of the UN Charter and other recognized international laws" and "a grave challenge to international peace and security", according to the statement.

"It is the steadfast strategic option and will of the DPRK to thoroughly deter the danger of outbreak of a nuclear war and powerfully control and manage the political and military situation in the region by countering the ever-dangerous military threat of the US and its vassal forces with the overwhelmed and absolute power," reads the statement.