North Korea Plans New Nuclear Test 'Targeted At The United States'

The announcement came from the country's military arm within a day of the United Nations Security Council agreeing to a resolution censuring and sanctioning North Korea for carrying out a December rocket launch that was against U.N. rules, according to Reuters. The U.N. resolution was backed by the United States.

"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," state news agency KCNA quoted North Korea's National Defense Commission as saying, according to Reuters.

"The UNSC (Security Council) resolution masterminded by the U.S. has brought its hostile policy towards the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) to its most dangerous stage," the commission went on to say, according to Reuters.

The New York Times reported that the new threat is being interpreted as a challenge by new North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un aimed directly at President Barack Obama and South Korea's Park Geun-hye, who is set to become president of the nation in February.

North Korea also signaled an end to discussions of denuclearization, according to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper:

"Due to the U.S.'s worsening hostility toward North Korea, the six-party talks and the joint Sept. 19 statement were rendered null," North Korea's National Defense Commission said, according to the paper.