Pyongyang underscored its "sovereign right" to launch satellites and suggested that U.S. actions could influence the possibility of a fourth nuclear test, a spokesperson for North Korea's foreign ministry said at an ASEAN press conference on Thursday.

Ri Tong Il, the DPRK's former deputy ambassador to the UN, said that ongoing satellite launches contributed to North Korea's scientific and economic development and described Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development as a defensive strategy.