North Korea's foreign ministry on Thursday rejected an international statement urging it to halt nuclear ​tests, with a spokesperson calling it "a grave ‌political provocation against our state" by "hostile forces".

A meeting of ministers from the Friends of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty — a grouping ​of Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan and ​the Netherlands — said any new nuclear test ⁠by North Korea would be irresponsible and unacceptable.

The ​meeting in New York on Tuesday urged Pyongyang to fully comply ​with all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The spokesperson for North Korea's foreign ministry described the country as a ​responsible nuclear-armed state, in a statement carried by ​state media KCNA.

In another statement carried by KCNA earlier in ‌the ⁠day, North Korea's foreign minister Choe Son Hui said Pyongyang's nuclear weapons status is irreversible.

Choe was responding to a separate meeting on the sidelines of ​the United ​Nations General ⁠Assembly this week between the United States, South Korea and Japan at which ​they reaffirmed their commitment to the ​complete ⁠denuclearisation of North Korea.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, agreed in 1996, bans "any nuclear weapon test explosion or any ⁠other ​nuclear explosion" anywhere in the ​world, with the goal of reducing and ultimately eliminating nuclear weapons.

Source: Reuters