PYONGYANG– North Korea has warned that it will take "tougher measures” if it is punished by the United States for its third nuclear test. The warning came as the United Nations Security Council set to work on establishing appropriate measures to be taken against the state in response to yesterday’s nuclear test, which its members "strongly condemned”. In the latest statement to be released by North Korea via its Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the isolated state claimed that the nuclear test was a justifiable act of self-defence in response to tightened sanctions following its rocket launch last December. "Whether the DPRK will take second and third tougher measures will entirely depend on the option to be taken by the US in the future,” said the KCNA, according to Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency. The North Korean state added praise for the technology of its latest nuclear test, highlighting how it "physically demonstrated the high performance of DPRK’s nuclear deterrent, which has become smaller, lighter and more diversified”. The nuclear test is likely to confirm growing fears among the international community that the state is trapped in an increasingly volatile cycle of sanctions followed by further provocations. Agencies