DPRK to pursue nuclear and missile programs - envoy

So Se Pyong, DPRK's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, denounced the huge joint U.S.-Republic of Korea military exercises taking place which he said were aimed at "decapitation of the supreme leadership of the DPRK" and conquering Pyongyang.

The DPRK conducted a fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket in February. The Republic of Korea (RoK) military said on April 1 that the DPRK had fired a missile into the sea off its east coast.

"If the United States continues, then we have to make the counter-measures also. So we have to develop, and we have to make more deterrence, nuclear deterrence," So, who is also DPRK's envoy to the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament, said in an interview with Reuters conducted in English.

"Simultaneous policy is the policy of my country, and my party also, meaning nuclear production and economic development," he said, referring to the twin aims of the policy course of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un which is expected to be endorsed at a congress of the ruling Workers' Party in May, the first in 36 years.

So had no information about the latest missile firing or about the RoK allegations that his country was disrupting GPS signal reception which Seoul says has forced some boats to return to port amid heightened tensions.

U.S. President Barack Obama joined the RoK President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on March 31 in vowing to ramp up pressure on DPRK in response to its nuclear and missile tests. The three leaders recommitted their countries to each others' defense and warned they could take further steps to counter threats from Pyongyang.