A senior diplomat from the Mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Tuesday that "every country has the right to use outer space for peaceful purpose."

Pak Tok Hun, the deputy permanent representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the United Nations, made the statement to the press here.

A South Korean soldier watches a TV news report on DPRK's rocket launch, at a railway station in Seoul April 5, 2009. DPRK launched a long-range rocket over Japan on Sunday. [Xinhua]

This is the first public statement by the DPRK Mission to the United Nations since its nation's rocket launch on Sunday.

"Every country has an inalienable right to use the outer space peacefully," he said. "Many countries have already launched satellites several hundred times. Does it mean it will be Okay for them? We're not allowed to do that, that is not fair."

"This is a satellite, everyone can distinguish satellite with missiles. It was not a missile, I know that most countries recognize that it was not a missile," he said.

The undated satellite photo provided by Google Earth shows the Musudan-ri missile base in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The DPRK on Sunday launched communications satellite by Kwangmyongsong-2 rocket at local time 11:32 (02:32 GMT Sunday), South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, by quoting Japan's NHK, Sunday. [Xinhua]

"If the Security Council, they take any kind of steps whatever, we'll consider this is (an) infringement on our sovereignty and next option will be ours," he said. "Necessary and strong steps will ... follow that."

Editor: Yan