North Korea says new nuclear test will be part of fight against U.S

North Korea says new nuclear test will be part of fight against U.S.

By K.J. Kwon and Jethro Mullen, CNN

updated 10:57 PM EST, Thu January 24, 2013

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, poses with chiefs of branch social security stations in this undated picture released by North Korea's official news agency on November 27, 2012. North Korea said Thursday that it plans to carry out a new nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, all of which it said are a part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States.

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Kim Jong Un and his military

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• U.S. secretary of defense says predicting a North Korean test is difficult
• Pyongyang says it plans a new nuclear test and further long-range rocket launches
• It vows an "all-out action" against the United States, which it calls its "sworn enemy"
• North Korea is upset by a recent U.N. Security Council resolution, an analyst says

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea said Thursday that it plans to carry out a new nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, all of which it said are a part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States.

The North's National Defense Commission said the moves would feed into an "upcoming all-out action" that would target the United States, "the sworn enemy of the Korean people."

Carried by the state media, the comments are the latest defiant flourish from the reclusive North Korean regime, whose young leader, Kim Jong Un, has upheld his father's policy of pursuing a military deterrent and shrugging off international pressure.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Thursday there are no "outward indications" that North Korea is about to conduct a nuclear test, but he admitted it would be hard to determine that in advance.

"They have the capability, frankly, to conduct these tests in a way that makes it very difficult to determine whether or not they are doing it," he said in a Pentagon press conference.

"We are very concerned with North Korea's continuing provocative behavior," Panetta said, but he added that the United States is "fully prepared" to deal with any provocations.

Read more: U.N. Security Council slams North Korea, expands sanctions

North Korea's statement followed a U.N. Security Council resolution submitted by the United States and approved Tuesday that condemned a recent rocket launch by the North and expanded existing sanctions.

Pyongyang's threatening statement "should have been the expected outcome" from the U.N. decision, said Daniel Pinkston, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group covering Northeast Asia.

"I think they are completely outraged and insulted by it," he said.

North Korea's statement prompted France and Great Britain to express exasperation with the secretive regime.

Britain's mission to the United Nations called on North Korean leaders to "refrain from further provocation." France said it "deplores" North Korea's statement, telling its leaders that they need not to threaten, but instead to work toward dismantling their nuclear and missile programs.