A North Korean diplomat reiterated Pyongyang's stance that it would end its moratorium on nuclear tests if the U.S. does not lift sanctions and abandon what the DPRK calls its "hostile policy," a report in Reuters said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the UN's Conference on Disarmament, the diplomat -- Ju Yong Chol, a counselor at North Korea's mission to the UN in Geneva, according to Reuters -- echoed the language, in some cases word-for-word, that DPRK leader Kim Jong Un had used in a meeting with senior party leaders late last month.