The North Korean Foreign Ministry said that the country “would not rule out a new form of nuclear test for bolstering up its nuclear deterrence,” in the state-run Korean Central News Agency on March 30. The remarks, coming in response to the United Nations’ condemnation of the North’s recent missile tests, may refer to a possible test of a uranium-based nuclear device.

The UN Security Council on March 27 condemned North Korea’s test launch of two Rodong missiles on its east coast on the morning of March 26. The test – North Korea’s longest-range missile test since its December 2012 space launch – violated UN sanctions prohibiting North Korea from developing ballistic missile technology.  Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry responded on March 30, calling the UN condemnation “illegal,” and the North’s own rocket launches “justifiable” in light of the joint ROK-U.S. military drills currently taking place in South Korea.