The pledge from Kim Yong Chun, chief of the general staff of the (North) Korean People's Army, came on the eve of a UN Security Council meeting on the nuclear stand-off.

"If the UN Security Council is abused for the US hostile policy to stifle the DPRK (North Korea), the US will be held wholly responsible for the failure of all the efforts for dialogue and the extremely tense situation the DPRK will have no other option but to beef up the military deterrent force to avert a war and defend the sovereignty and security of the country and the nation by mobilizing its potential to the maximum," Kim said in a message carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

In the message marking the 10th anniversary of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's rise to the country's highest military post, he accused the United States of "driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a war."

The North wants face-to-face dialogue with the United States to resolve the nuclear crisis which began in October last year.

But the United States rejects any direct talks with the North and seeks multilateral negotiations, while sending the nuclear issue to the UN Security Council which could eventually impose sanctions on Pyongyang.

The North has threatened to regard any sanctions as a war declaration against the communist country.

SPACE.WIRE