text: So Se Pyong (R), North Korea's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, shakes hands with India's Sujata Mehta, president of the conference, at the end of a session of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations in Geneva February 27, 2013. 
   
   So Se Pyong, North Korea's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, addresses the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations in Geneva February 27, 2013. North Korea accused the United States on Wednesday of contributing to an 'unpredictable' situation on the divided Korean... 
   
   GENEVA North Korea accused the United States on Wednesday of contributing to an "unpredictable" situation on the divided Korean peninsula and abusing its power in the U.N. Security Council to impose its "hostile policy" against Pyongyang. 
   
   North Korea is facing further United Nations sanctions for its underground nuclear test explosion two weeks ago, its biggest and most powerful to date which drew warnings from Washington and international condemnation. 
   
   In December it launched a long-range rocket in a move that critics said was designed to test technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile, leading to tighter U.N. sanctions being imposed last month. 
   
   "The U.S. is to blame for the situation on the Korean peninsula which is inching close to an unpredictable phase now," So Se Pyong, North Korea's ambassador in Geneva, told the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament. 
   
   A week ago, North Korea's delegation threatened South Korea with "final destruction" during a heated debate at the talks, the main U.N. disarmament negotiating forum. 
   
   U.S. ambassador Laura Kennedy did not respond to the verbal assault on Wednesday. 
   
   But South Korea's disarmament ambassador Kwon Haeryong took the floor to urge its isolated neighbor to "abandon its nuclear ambitions without delay and embark on the path to peace". 
   
   "North Korea's nuclear test is a challenge to the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia and beyond. There should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself," Kwon said. 
   
   PANDORA'S BOX 
   
   So, a former ambassador to Iran, retorted: "I'd like to give you objective advice that it will be much better for South Korea to keep quiet, pay more attention to your own concerns of internal affairs and demonstrate at least a little patience instead of making troubles and opening Pandora's boxes". 
   
   North and South Korea are technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. 
   
   So said he wanted to draw attention to the "intensified U.S. hostile policy" toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which has a right to launch satellites for peaceful purposes. 
   
   "The U.S. should no longer be allowed to seriously infringe upon the independent right of the DPRK to use space for peaceful purposes nor should it be allowed to abuse the U.N. Security Council as a tool for executing its hostile policy toward the DPRK," he declared. 
   
   The United States has launched the most military satellites and nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles in the world, he said, making it "the biggest threat to world peace". 
   
   North Korea's latest nuclear test, its third since 2006, had been a resolute step in self-defense, So said. 
   
   "The third nuclear test was carried out as part of the practical countermeasures for defending the country's sovereignty and security to cope with ruthless hostile behaviors of the U.S., which wantonly infringed upon the DPRK's legitimate right to satellite launch for peaceful purposes." 
   
   Ireland's foreign minister Eamon Gilmore said that North Korea, by defying U.N. resolutions, shunning its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and refusing to cooperate with the IAEA nuclear watchdog, "only isolates itself further from the international community". 
   
   In a speech at the forum, he called on North Korea to cease immediately nuclear testing and ballistic missile activities and re-engage in stalled six-party talks on denuclearization. 
   
   The talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia are aimed at curbing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. 
   
   (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Jon Hemming) ||||| North Korea says its nuclear weapons can reach the U.S. 
   
   By Agence France-Presse 
   
   Wednesday, February 27, 2013 5:35 EDT 
   
   North Korea warned Wednesday that the US mainland was “well within” the range of its nuclear weapons, as Pyongyang continued to ramp up the bellicose rhetoric after its recent nuclear test. 
   
   In an article posted on the official Uriminzokkiri website, a member of the Korean National Peace Committee — a propaganda body — said the North was now a “fully-independent rocket and nuclear weapons state”. 
   
   “The United States should be acutely aware that the US mainland is now well within the range of our strategic rockets and nuclear weapons,” the signed commentary said. 
   
   North Korea made a similar claim in October last year, saying it possessed rockets capable of striking the continental United States. 
   
   That was largely dismissed as bluster, but that was before Pyongyang conducted a successful long-range rocket launch in December, followed by its third nuclear test on February 12. 
   
   Although most experts believe the North has a long way to go to developing a dependable inter-continental ballistic missile, the December launch was a strong step in the right direction. 
   
   And this month’s nuclear test also fuelled concerns that North Korea is refining the technical ability to place a miniaturised nuclear warhead on a long-range missile. 
   
   After analysing debris from the rocket launch in December, the South Korean military estimated its possible range at around 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles), bringing in the west coast of the United States. 
   
   In a separate commentary Wednesday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) slammed upcoming US-South joint military drills, and warned that the Korean peninsula was “an inch away from explosion”.
target: – Pyongyang has a message for the US: North Korea has become a "fully-independent rocket and nuclear weapons state," according to an official website—and America "should be acutely aware that the US mainland is now well within the range of our strategic rockets and nuclear weapons." How credible is the warning? Experts say it could be awhile before the North actually has an intercontinental ballistic missile ready, AFP notes. But debris from December's rocket launch suggested its possible range included the US West Coast, according to South Korea. Closer to home, Pyongyang is fuming over planned US-South Korea military drills. The Korean peninsula is "an inch away from explosion," official news warns. "The US is to blame for the situation on the Korean peninsula, which is inching close to an unpredictable phase now," said Pyongyang's UN ambassador, according to Reuters. Washington is pushing a "hostile policy" against the North via the UN Security Council, the official said.