North Korea needs its nuclear program to protect itself from the U.S. nuclear threat, and therefore will “march forward” with its program in defiance of international objections, a senior diplomat told the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

“Our possession of nuclear weapons was an individual self-defensive means of defending our sovereignty and right of existence and development from the U.S. nuclear threat,” said Ja Song Nam, the North Korean permanent representative to the United Nations. “If anyone is to blame for it, the U.S. is the one who must be held accountable.”