EPTIn a statement carried by KCNA news agency, the top military body said the "high-level nuclear test" and more long-range rocket launches were aimed at its "arch-enemy", the US.
The statement gave no time-frame for the test. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009.
The move comes two days after a UN Security Council resolution condemned Pyongyang's recent rocket launch.
The Security Council also expanded sanctions against the communist country following its December launch, which was seen by the US and North Korea's neighbours as a banned test of long-range missile technology.
North Korea said the rocket put a satellite into space.
'Ready'
The statement, which came from North Korea's National Defence Commission, hit out at the resolution as "illegal", before pledging a response.
"We do not hide that the various satellites and long-range rockets we will continue to launch, as well as the high-level nuclear test we will proceed with, are aimed at our arch-enemy the United States," KCNA quoted it as saying.
Recent reports from South Korean and US bodies which monitor North Korea's nuclear test sites have said North Korea could be preparing for a third test.
Earlier on Thursday, a South Korean defence ministry spokesman said it appeared that North Korea was "ready to conduct a nuclear test at anytime if its leadership decides to go ahead".
Regional neighbours and the US have urged it not to proceed.
"We hope they don't do it, we call on them not to do it. It will be a mistake and a missed opportunity if they were to do it," said Glyn Davies, the US special envoy on North Korea policy who is currently visiting Seoul.
"This is not a moment to increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula."
Both North Korea's previous nuclear tests followed long-range rocket launches.
If it were to go ahead, this would be the first nuclear test under Kim Jong-un, who took over the leadership after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2010.
The statement gave no time-frame for the test. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009.
The move comes two days after a UN Security Council resolution condemned Pyongyang's recent rocket launch.
The Security Council also expanded sanctions against the communist country following its December launch, which was seen by the US and North Korea's neighbours as a banned test of long-range missile technology.
North Korea said the rocket put a satellite into space.
'Ready'
The statement, which came from North Korea's National Defence Commission, hit out at the resolution as "illegal", before pledging a response.
"We do not hide that the various satellites and long-range rockets we will continue to launch, as well as the high-level nuclear test we will proceed with, are aimed at our arch-enemy the United States," KCNA quoted it as saying.
Recent reports from South Korean and US bodies which monitor North Korea's nuclear test sites have said North Korea could be preparing for a third test.
Earlier on Thursday, a South Korean defence ministry spokesman said it appeared that North Korea was "ready to conduct a nuclear test at anytime if its leadership decides to go ahead".
Regional neighbours and the US have urged it not to proceed.
"We hope they don't do it, we call on them not to do it. It will be a mistake and a missed opportunity if they were to do it," said Glyn Davies, the US special envoy on North Korea policy who is currently visiting Seoul.
"This is not a moment to increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula."
Both North Korea's previous nuclear tests followed long-range rocket launches.
If it were to go ahead, this would be the first nuclear test under Kim Jong-un, who took over the leadership after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2010.
The current UN sanctions do not appear to be enough of a deterrent to keep North Korea from continuing its nuclear and long range missile weapons programs. In fact, it appears that they only serve to embolden North Korea:
The UN Security Council unanimously condemned North Korea's December rocket launch and expanded existing UN sanctions, and Pyongyang reacted with a vow to boost its military and nuclear capabilities.While the resolution approved by the 15-nation council on Tuesday does not impose new sanctions on Pyongyang, diplomats said Beijing's support for it was a significant diplomatic blow to Pyongyang.The resolution said the council "deplores the violations" by North Korea of its previous resolutions, which banned Pyongyang from conducting further ballistic missile and nuclear tests and from importing materials and technology for those programs. It also said the council "expresses its determination to take significant action in the event of a further DPRK (North Korean) launch or nuclear test". North Korea reacted quickly, saying it would hold no more talks on the de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and would boost its military and nuclear capabilities."We will take measures to boost and strengthen our defensive military power including nuclear deterrence," its Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA. Source
North Korea gave no time-frame for the coming test and often employs harsh rhetoric in response to U.N. and U.S. actions.
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TL/DR
The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013 unanimously approved a resolution condemning North Korea's rocket launch in December and imposing new sanctions on Pyongyang's space agency.
North Korea responds by saying, "We are not disguising the fact that the various satellites and long-range rockets that we will fire and the high-level nuclear test we will carry out are targeted at the United States."
Also, its important to note that China, Pyongyang's only major diplomatic ally, endorsed the latest UN resolution.
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Is it reasonable for world leaders to continue believing that applying pressure through sanctions will change North Korea's attitude regarding their ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs? At what point would you support military intervention? Should the world allow North Korea to achieve a mission capable long range nuclear weapon? Is this even a "real" threat?
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Update 2/11/13: Seismic activity reported in area of previous N.K. nuclear tests
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The area around the reported epicenter of the magnitude 4.9 disturbance has little or no history of earthquakes or natural seismic hazards, according to U.S. Geological Survey maps.
"It's a nuclear test," said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. "That magnitude and that location -- it's awfully unlikely it's anything else."
The U.S. says they are working to confirm whether or not it was a nuclear test that caused the seismic activity.
Update 2/12/13: North Korea confirms new "more powerful" nuclear test
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The test was designed "to defend the country's security and sovereignty in the face of the ferocious hostile act of the U.S.," the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, referring to new U.S.-led sanctions on Pyongyang after the recent launch of a long-range rocket.
"This nuclear test is our first measure, which displayed our maximum restraint," KCNA said. "If the U.S. continues with their hostility and complicates the situation, it would be inevitable to continuously conduct a stronger second or third measure."
"This nuclear test is our first measure, which displayed our maximum restraint," KCNA said. "If the U.S. continues with their hostility and complicates the situation, it would be inevitable to continuously conduct a stronger second or third measure."
Update 3/7/13: Furious over sanctions, North Korea vows to Nuke US
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North Korea vowed on Thursday to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States, amplifying its threatening rhetoric as U.N. diplomats voted on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.
An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.
An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.
Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the U.S.
Update 3/8/13: North Korea ends peace pacts with South
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North Korea says it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and shutting their shared border point.
North Korea has breached agreements before and withdrawing from them does not necessarily mean war, our correspondent says, but it does signal a more unpredictable and unstable situation.
Update 3/29/13: North Korea declares State of War
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1. From this moment, the north-south relations will be put at the state of war and all the issues arousing between the north and the south will be dealt with according to the wartime regulations.
The state of neither peace nor war has ended on the Korean Peninsula.
The state of neither peace nor war has ended on the Korean Peninsula.
How serious are the U.S. and South Korea taking this?
The United States said it took the announcement "seriously", but noted it followed a familiar pattern, while South Korea largely dismissed it as an old threat dressed in new clothing.
The two Koreas have always technically remained at war because the 1950-53 Korean War concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Update 4/2/13: China mobilizing troops, jets near Korea
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China has placed military forces on heightened alert in the northeastern part of the country as tensions mount on the Korean peninsula following recent threats by Pyongyang to attack, U.S. officials said.
Reports from the region reveal the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently increased its military posture in response to the heightened tensions, specifically North Korea’s declaration of a “state of war” and threats to conduct missile attacks against the United States and South Korea.
Reports from the region reveal the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently increased its military posture in response to the heightened tensions, specifically North Korea’s declaration of a “state of war” and threats to conduct missile attacks against the United States and South Korea.
Update 4/3/13:North Korea approves nuclear strike on the U.S.
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SEOUL — North Korea dramatically escalated its warlike rhetoric on Thursday, warning that it had authorised plans for nuclear strikes on targets in the United States.
"The moment of explosion is approaching fast," the North Korean military said, warning that war could break out "today or tomorrow".
"The moment of explosion is approaching fast," the North Korean military said, warning that war could break out "today or tomorrow".
Last month, North Korea threatened a "pre-emptive" nuclear strike against the United States, and last week its supreme army command ordered strategic rocket units to combat status.
The Pentagon said it would send ground-based THAAD interceptor batteries to protect US bases on the island of Guam, complementing two Aegis anti-missile destroyers already dispatched to the region.
The THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) is a truck-mounted system that can pinpoint an enemy missile launch, track the projectile and launch an interceptor to bring it down.
The THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) is a truck-mounted system that can pinpoint an enemy missile launch, track the projectile and launch an interceptor to bring it down.
Update 4/11/13: Pentagon Says Nuclear Missile Is in Grasp for North Korea
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A new assessment of North Korea’s nuclear capability conducted by the Pentagon’s intelligence arm has concluded for the first time, with “moderate confidence,” that the country has learned how to make a nuclear weapon small enough to be delivered by a ballistic missile.
It is unclear whether other American intelligence agencies agree with the assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which has primary responsibility for monitoring the missile capabilities of adversary nations.
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Poll: How serious should the World take North Korea's continued defiance?
*Yawn* (782)
56%
Definite cause for alarm, but another war is not the answer. (282)
20%
This is a serious threat. Military intervention seems reasonable at this point. (198)
14%
Just more rhetoric and lashing out. (124)
9%
1386 total votes
Definite cause for alarm, but another war is not the answer. (282)
This is a serious threat. Military intervention seems reasonable at this point. (198)
Just more rhetoric and lashing out. (124)
1386 total votes
Your vote: How serious should the World take North Korea's continued defiance?
(Vote): This is a serious threat. Military intervention seems reasonable at this point.
(Vote): Definite cause for alarm, but another war is not the answer.
(Vote): Just more rhetoric and lashing out.
(Vote): *Yawn*
