SEOUL  - North Korea will take “self-defence measures” if the U.N. Security Council punishes Pyongyang for its nuclear test this week, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

The United States Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice speaks to the media following an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council concerning an underground nuclear test by North Korea (Getty Images)

North Korea on Monday conducted its second nuclear test, drawing international condemnation and a swift move by the Security Council for a new resolution against Pyongyang.

“If the U.N. Security Council makes further provocations, we will have no choice but to take additional self-defence measures,” the North’s spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency without offering further details.

“Any hostile action by the U.N. Security Council will mean the nullifying of the Armistice Agreement,” the spokesman added, referring to a truce ending the 1950-53 Korean War that Pyongyang has already said was dead.

The North’s spokesman said the country had the right as a sovereign state to conduct missile and nuclear tests without violating international protocols. (Reuters)

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