North Korea denounced the United States on Sunday for vetoing a U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, state media reported.

The U.N. Security Council voted on the resolution Friday, but it failed to pass due to the veto by the U.S., one of the five veto-wielding powers of the 15-member council.

Kim Son-kyong, North Korea's vice foreign minister for international organizations, accused Washington of abusing its veto right, calling the country a "stumbling block" to international peace and stability, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"I cannot but deplore the fact that the international community's unanimous desire for peace and stability to settle in the Middle East at an early date was mercilessly trampled down again," Kim said in an English-language statement carried by the KCNA. (Yonhap)