FILE - In this April 24, 2016 file photo, a man walks by as people watch a TV news program showing an image published earlier in the day in North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper of North Korea's ballistic missile that the North claimed to have launched from underwater, at Seoul Railway station in Seoul, South Korea. With Donald Trump getting ready to become president, North Korea is talking about launching an ICBM and Washington officials are saying they will shoot down anything that threatens the territory of the U.S. or its allies. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) (The Associated Press)
PYONGYANG, North Korea – North Korea says it reserves the right to test an intercontinental ballistic missile whenever it sees fit, in the latest rhetorical volley with Washington over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
The North's Korean Central News Agency on Monday quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying, "The ICBM will be launched anytime and anywhere determined by the supreme headquarters" of the country.
Kim Jong Un announced in his New Year's address that the country had reached the "final stages" of ICBM development. The North has not explicitly said it will conduct an ICBM test in the immediate future.
On Sunday, on "Meet the Press," U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the U.S. military would shoot down any North Korean missiles appearing to be headed toward territory of the U.S. or its allies.
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