In an interview with the AP, North Korea’s vice foreign minister says they are ready to make their next nuclear test.

Friday morning in Pyongyang, North Korean Vice Minister Han Song Ryol said in an exclusive interview with the AP that the hermit kingdom is ready for the next nuclear test and are simply awaiting the go-ahead from the “supreme headquarters”.

The Vice Minister also said of the situation on the Korean Peninsula that they are in a “vicious cycle” as their relationship with the U.S. and their allies grows more unstable every day.

The AP reports:

Outside experts say the North could conduct its sixth nuclear test at virtually anytime. Meanwhile, the U.S. has sent an aircraft carrier to the region and is conducting its biggest ever joint military exercises with South Korea. TRENDING: Wray Claims "White Supremacists" Make Up the Largest Share of Racially Motivated Terrorists in the US as BLM Burns Businesses to the Ground (VIDEO) Han told AP that Pyongyang won’t “keep its arms crossed” in the face of a U.S. pre-emptive strike.

Numerous experts feel that North Korea is very close, perhaps only a few years away, from a “viable nuclear warhead” that is capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.