North Korea says to do nuclear test in future

PYONGYANG: North Korea said Tuesday it would conduct a nuclear test to bolster its self-defense against what it calls increasing U.S. hostility toward the regime.

"The DPRK will in the future conduct a nuclear test in a condition where safety is firmly guaranteed," the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel the DPRK to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering nuclear deterrent, as a self-defense measure in response," said the statement carried by the North's official news agency.

The North said Tuesday its ultimate goal is ``to settle hostile relations between the DPRK and the U.S. and to remove the very source of all nuclear threats from the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity,'' accusing the U.S. of posing a nuclear threat in the region.

The North, however, said it will ``never use nuclear weapons first and strictly prohibit any threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear transfer,'' defending its nuclear weapons as a protection from ``the U.S. threat of aggression'' and a measure ``to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.''