DPRK calls nuclear test "self-defense" against U.S. hostility

PYONGYANG, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Tuesday that its nuclear test was an act of self-defense against the United States' hostility.
It is "natural just measure for self-defense to react to the U.S. ever-increasing nuclear threat with nuclear deterrence," a spokesman for the DPRK's Foreign Ministry said in a statement released by the official news agency KCNA.
The DPRK's patience has "reached its limit as the U.S. intensified such hostile act", the spokesman said, warning to "take the second and third stronger steps in succession" if the U.S., its "sworn enemy," continues hostility.