North Korea has said that launching a long-distance rocket is a sovereign right and that schemes by the South to interfere with launches are provocative acts.
 
North Korean radio Pyongyang Broadcasting Station said Sunday that space research and the production and launching of satellites are autonomous rights of a sovereign state. It said impure actions by the South, which engages in interference schemes by collaborating with a foreign power, are unacceptable provocations.
 
Regarding the North’s nuclear program, the radio station said nuclear possession is a response to the United States’ anti-Pyongyang policies and nuclear threats.
 
It added that the North’s response will become stronger if the South challenges its peaceful launch of artificial earth satellites by collaborating with the United States, noting that the South Korean government should be more careful.