North Korea`s UN ambassador defended his country`s recent long-range missile launch in a rare appearance at the UN Security Council on Thursday where he also accused the United States of driving the situation in northeast Asia "to the brink of nuclear war."

Kim Song told the council that Wednesday`s test-flight of the developmental Hwasong-18 missile was a legitimate exercise of the North`s right to self-defense. He said the United States was raising regional tensions with nuclear threats and deploying a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea for the first time in 14 years.