North Korea responds to UN resolution by hinting at new nuclear test

North Korea has vowed to boost their military and nuclear capabilities in an angry reaction to a UN Security Council resolution condemning their December rocket-launch.

Though the new resolution does not impose new sanctions on Pyongyang, BBC News reported that existing sanctions have been expanded.

North Korea reacted by saying it would no longer be holding talks on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, though talks for the stability of the Korean Peninsula could occur in the future, the New York Times reported.

"We will take measures to boost and strengthen our defensive military power including nuclear deterrence," its Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.

According to the New York Times, the measures that North Korea referred to most likely referred to a third nuclear test. Analysts would watch to see whether this new test involved a uranium device– the previous two tests, one in 2006, and the other in 2009, used plutonium.

Both of the previous tests have come as a protest to a UN decision to impose more sanctions for rocket tests.

The UN Security Council's resolution was supported by the United States, and was backed by China. Reuters reported that Beijing's support of the resolution has come as a blow to the North. China is North Korea's closest ally and largest trading partner.

Though the United States wanted to punish North Korea for the rocket launch, Beijing rejected that option, choosing instead to pass a cautious resolution to avoid escalating tensions.

Some observers view Beijing's move as significant, indicating that a new nuclear test may be a game changer for China, Reuters reported.