(VOVworld) - North Korea is prepared for any mode of war triggered by US military action, Pyongyang’s envoy to the United Nations warned Monday. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects an artillery drill (Source: Yonhap/VNA)

The statement from Deputy Ambassador Kim In Ryong followed warnings from US Vice President Mike Pence to Pyongyang not to test US resolve. Mr. Kim accused the US of turning the Korean Peninsula into the world’s number one hotspot and creating a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war could break out at any moment.

At a news conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the US against unilateral action against North Korea. Moscow does not accept North Korea's reckless nuclear actions, but that doesn’t mean the US can violate international law, he said. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric expressed his concern over rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, and urged North Korea to de-escalate the situation and return to a dialogue on denuclearization.