North Korea threatens 'final destruction' of South Korea: Secretive state attacks neighbour at U.N. after third successful nuclear test



North Korean diplomat's inflammatory language stunned U.N member states

Jon Yong Ryong made the comments at conference on disarmament

North Korea carried out a widely condemned nuclear test last week

South Korea warned it could strike if felt an attack from north was imminent



North Korea has warned the South that it faces ‘final destruction’ – during a UN conference on disarmament.

The open threat came amid growing tensions on the peninsula following the North’s recent nuclear testing.

Since last week’s test, which was carried out in defiance of UN resolutions, its southern neighbour warned it could strike if it felt an attack was imminent.

'No fear': North Korean officials watched soldiers at a rally organised to celebrate the state's successful nuclear test last week

In response, North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong told the UN meeting: ‘As the saying goes, a new-born puppy knows no fear of a tiger. South Korea’s erratic behaviour would only herald its final destruction.’

His comments drew quick criticism from other nations, including South Korea, France, Germany and Britain, whose ambassador Joanne Adamson said such language was ‘completely inappropriate’.



‘It cannot be allowed that we have expressions which refer to the possible destruction of UN member states,’ she said.



Pyongyang has said the aim of the nuclear test was to bolster its defences in the wake the hostility of the US, which is pushing for sanctions on North Korea.

But the North exercised ‘its maximum self-restraint’, said Mr Jon, who added that hostility from the US would leave his country ‘with no option but to take the second and third stronger steps in succession’. He did not specify what that would entail.

North Korea has already told China it is prepared to stage one or two more tests this year to force the US into talks.

Spanish ambassador Javier Gil Catalina said the comments had left him stupefied and appeared to be a breach of international law.

Warning: Soldiers in South Korea - which said in the wake of its northern neighbour's nuclear test that it could strike if it believed an attack was imminent - participate in a live fire drill

'In the 30 years of my career I've never heard anything like it and it seems to me that we are not speaking about something that is even admissible, we are speaking about a threat of the use of force that is prohibited by Article 2.4 of the United Nations charter,' he said.

Since the North tested a nuclear bomb last week in defiance of U.N. resolutions, its southern neighbour has warned it could strike the isolated state if it believed an attack was imminent.

Pyongyang said the aim of the test was to bolster its defences given the hostility of the United States, which has led a push to impose sanctions on North Korea.



'South Korea's erratic behaviour would only herald its final destruction' North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong

'Our current nuclear test is the primary countermeasure taken by the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) in which it exercised its maximum self-restraint,' said the North Korean diplomat Jon.



'If the U.S. takes a hostile approach toward the DPRK to the last, rendering the situation complicated, it (North Korea) will be left with no option but to take the second and third stronger steps in succession,' he said, without elaborating on what that might entail.



North Korea has already told key ally China that it is prepared to stage one or two more tests this year to force the United States into diplomatic talks, a source with direct knowledge of the message said last week.



U.S. Ambassador Laura Kennedy said she found North Korea's threat today profoundly disturbing and later tweeted that it was 'offensive'.

Training: South Korean soldiers fire live rounds during a training exercise in Cheorwon, South Korea

Poland's representative suggested North Korea's participation in the U.N. forum should be limited.



Impoverished and malnourished North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned states in the world.



It is still technically at war with South Korea after a 1950-53 civil war ended in a mere truce.



Washington and its allies are believed to be pushing to tighten the noose around North Korea's financial transactions in a bid to starve its leadership of funding.



Jon said last week's test was an act of self-defence against nuclear blackmail by the United States, which wanted to block North Korea's economic development and its fundamental rights.

Not happy: U.S. Ambassador Laura Kennedy said she found North Korea's threat today profoundly disturbing and later tweeted that it was 'offensive'

'It is the disposition and firm will of the army and people of the DPRK to counter high-handed policy with tough-fist policy and to react to pressure and sanctions with an all-out counter-action,' he said.

Jon said the United States had conducted most of the nuclear tests and satellite launches in history, and he described its pursuit of U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea as 'a breach of international law and the height of double standards'.



Neither Russia nor China, which are veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, spoke at the meeting in Geneva today.



Before its nuclear test, North Korea was already facing growing diplomatic pressure at the United Nations.

