North Korea has called on the United Nations Security Council to publicly apologize for tightening sanctions earlier this month, saying that refusal to do so would lead to measures that “will include nuclear tests and test-firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles.”

Tensions with the isolated nation have worsened since a satellite launch earlier this month led to angry US condemnations, a UN Security Council resolution and ultimately, the ousting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from the nation’s Yongbyon atomic research facility.

North Korea is also planning to start a uranium enrichment program, which would operate in parallel with its current nuclear activities. A sufficient amount of highly enriched uranium could be used for a nuclear weapon. North Korea’s previous weapons tests have involved plutonium-based nuclear weapons using the plutonium produced at the Yongbyon reactor.

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