North Korea threatens action if UN punishes it

North Korea will take "self-defense measures" if the United Nations Security Council punishes Pyongyang for its nuclear test this week, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Yonhap news agency said North Korea has test-fired a short-range missile off its east coast.

"If the UN Security Council makes further provocations, we will have no choice but to take additional self-defense measures," the North's spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency without offering further details.

"Any hostile action by the UN Security Council will mean the nullifying of the Armistice Agreement," the spokesman added, referring to a truce ending the 1950-53 Korean War that Pyongyang has already said was dead.

The North's spokesman said the country had the right as a sovereign state to conduct missile and nuclear tests without violating international protocols.

Earlier, the US Army's top officer said America could fight a conventional war against North Korea if necessary, even while newer forms of conflict against terrorists and extremists continue.

Asked whether the United States would be prepared to fight if war broke out between South Korea and North Korea, Gen. George Casey replied, "The short answer is yes," then added that "it would probably take us a little bit longer to shift gears" away from the type of counterinsurgency fighting that now occupies the Army.

North Korea on Monday conducted its second nuclear test, drawing international condemnation and a swift move by the Security Council for a new resolution against Pyongyang.

Reuters and AP contributed to the report