U.S. will not accept North Korea as a 'nuclear state'

North Korea's decision comes as tensions on the Korean peninsula escalate over Kim Jong Un's threats to wage war against the United States and South Korea.

"The bottom line is simply that what Kim Jong Un is choosing to do is provocative. It is dangerous, reckless. The United States will not accept the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) as a nuclear state," Kerry said during a joint briefing in Washington with South Korea Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Kazinform has learnt from CNN.

"And I reiterate again the United States will do what is necessary to defend ourselves and defend our allies, Korea and Japan. We are fully prepared and capable of doing so, and I think the DPRK understands that."

North Korea's declaration that it would reopen the reactor demonstrates Kim's commitment to the country's nuclear weapons program that the international community has tried to persuade it to abandon.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency, KCNA, reported that the reclusive state's atomic energy department intends to "readjust and restart all the nuclear facilities" at its main nuclear complex, in Yongbyon.

Those facilities include a uranium enrichment facility and a reactor that was "mothballed and disabled" under an agreement reached in October 2007 during talks among North Korea, the United States and four other nations, KCNA said.

The announcement was followed by a plea for calm from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is South Korean.

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"The current crisis has already gone too far," he said in a statement from Andorra. "Nuclear threats are not a game. Aggressive rhetoric and military posturing only result in counteractions, and fuel fear and instability.

"Things must begin to calm down, as this situation, made worse by the lack of communication, could lead down a path that nobody should want to follow."

Ban said dialogue and negotiations are "the only way to resolve the current crisis."

The tensions on the Korean Peninsula have led Pyongyang to sever a key military hot line with Seoul and declare void the 1953 armistice that stopped the Korean War.

The United States has made a show of its military strength amid annual training exercises with South Korea, flying B-2 stealth bombers capable of carrying conventional or nuclear weapons, Cold War-era B-52s and F-22 Raptor stealth fighters over South Korea.

On Tuesday, the United States positioned a second guided missile cruiser -- the USS Stephen Decatur -- near the Korean peninsula, a defense official said on condition of anonymity. The official was not authorized to release details to the media.

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