Photo provided by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 24, 2016 shows the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un guiding a ground test for heavy-lift, solid-fuel rocket engine and its separation. The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un has guided a ground test for heavy-lift, solid-fuel rocket engine and its separation, the country's official news agency KCNA reported Thursday. The test was aimed at testing the structural safety and the thrust of the newly developed rocket engine and gauging the working specification of heat separation system, said KCNA. (Xinhua/KCNA)

 
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday denounced the UN Security Council for dismissing its call for convening a meeting to discuss ongoing US-S.Korea joint military exercises.

The UN Security Council is "turning a blind eye to US nuclear threats to the DPRK," the official KCNA news agency reported.

The DPRK presented a letter to the Security Council late March, calling for holding an urgent meeting on the U.S.-S.Korea annual joint war games code-named "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle," which, a spokesperson for the DPRK Foreign Ministry said Saturday, was ignored by the Security Council.

Pyongyang has said that the military exercises, with their large scale and aggressive nature, constitute a grave threat to the DPRK, disturb international peace and stability, and violate respect for state sovereignty.

The spokesperson also said that the DPRK will further strengthen its self-defensive deterrent "capable of frustrating U.S. nuclear threat, blackmail and provocation."

On March 7, South Korea and the United States began their joint annual war games of "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle." The "Key Resolve" exercise ended last month, but the "Foal Eagle" field training exercise is scheduled to last till April 30.

Pyongyang has repeatedly denounced the U.S.-South Korea military exercises as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.