Story highlights US authorities say North Koreans did not have diplomatic statusIncident comes as tensions high over North Korean missile tests(CNN) North Korea says delegates it sent to a United Nations' conference in New York were "literally mugged" by US authorities as they tried to leave John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday. In a report published Sunday, Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) accused US Department of Homeland Security officers and airport police of taking a diplomatic package away from the delegation, which it said carried a valid diplomatic courier certificate. KCNA called the incident "an illegal and heinous act of provocation," adding that US authorities behaved like "gangsters." The US Department of Homeland Security confirmed that a group of three North Koreans was confronted at JFK, but said they did not hold diplomatic status. The package in question had no diplomatic protection from inspection," a Homeland Security statement said.

Source: CNN June 19, 2017 06:56 UTC