The recent nuclear test carried out by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was a "resolute step for self-defense," a DPRK diplomat in Geneva said on Wednesday.

The move aims to cope with the United States' "hostile acts" against DPRK's satellite launch for peaceful purposes, said So Se Pyong, DPRK's Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva.

"The US is to blame for the situation on the Korean peninsula which is inching close to an unpredictable phase now," So told the plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament.

The United States should opt "to respect the DPRK's right of satellite launch and open a phase of detente and stability or to keep to its wrong road leading to the explosive situation by persistently pursuing its hostile policy toward the DPRK," he said.