North Korea slams European nations

North Korea yesterday slammed a statement by European UN Security Council members urging strict enforcement of sanctions against Pyongyang for its latest missile test, calling the move a "serious provocation".

Pyongyang fired a sea-launched missile on October 2 in the latest -- and most provocative -- of a series of weapons tests, just days before long-stalled US-North Korean nuclear talks were to resume in Sweden.

The North then walked away from the Stockholm talks on Saturday saying it was disappointed at the lack of "new and creative" solutions offered by Washington, although the US said it was willing to meet again in two weeks.

In their statement at the UN Tuesday, the Europeans -- France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Britain and Estonia -- condemned Pyongyang's tests and urged it to engage in "good faith in meaningful negotiations with the United States."

The North yesterday accused the Europeans of double standards.

"The UNSC which champions fairness and equity picks fault with the just measure belonging to our right to self-defence, while keeping mum about the test-fire of Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile recently conducted by the US. This is a serious provocation against the DPRK," a foreign ministry spokesperson said.