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a Sony film about an assassination plot of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

The faint signs that the US and North Korea were taking steps toward resuming dialogue have run into more turbulence after the UN General Assembly passed a resolution about North Korean human rights abuses and after Sony Pictures was hacked.

In a statement released by North Korea‘s Foreign Ministry on Dec. 20, North Korea “completely rejected” the UN resolution. “We will redouble our efforts to strengthen our national defense ability, including nuclear weapons, through every available means,” the statement warned.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry has the highest degree of formality of any North Korean diplomatic message.

“Now that the US has clearly revealed its hostile policy of seeking to carry out a military invasion against our republic on the pretext of human rights violations, the very word ’denuclearization‘ has lost its meaning. The moment that the US initiated a full-out confrontation about human rights in our republic, all of its agreements with us in which it pledged respect for our independence and peaceful coexistence, including the September 19th Joint Statement from the Six-Party Talks, turned into useless scraps of paper,” the statement reads.

When the human rights resolution was passed by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly last month, North Korea issued a statement by the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, a format that has slightly less authority than a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

“The US’s hostility toward our republic makes it even more difficult for us to refrain from carrying out another nuclear weapons test. Our deterrence through waging war will be strengthened to an infinite degree,” the statement said.

In an interview with CNN, President Barack Obama described the North’s alleged actions as “cyber vandalism” and said the US will consider putting North Korea back on its list of terrorism sponsors.

It is not clear whether North Korea’s declarations will actually lead to a fourth nuclear test. Not only has the North not announced the timing of a test, but North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to Russia is on the horizon. Meanwhile, Pyongyang is also seeking to somehow turn the third anniversary of the death of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il into an opportunity to repair its relations with China.

Since an additional nuclear test would cross a red line that has been drawn not only by the US and South Korea, but also by China and Russia, the move would carry a significant degree of risk for North Korea.

Consequently, North Korea will probably take steps to advance its nuclear ability through some means other than a nuclear test, analysts say.

“Technically speaking, nuclear tests do not hold the importance that they once did given North Korea’s current level of nuclear capability. North Korea could also strengthen its nuclear power by expanding its uranium enrichment activity or by reactivating the nuclear facilities at the Yongbyon reactor to increase plutonium extraction,” said Kim Yeon-cheol, professor at Inje University.

If North Korea takes measures to expand its nuclear arsenal - whatever measures those may be - it is likely to put the brakes on efforts to restart dialogue between North Korea and the US, at least for the time being.

Furthermore, with the US government identifying North Korea as the party responsible for the hacking incident at Sony, it is clear that American public opinion about North Korea will only worsen.

In effect, the task of resuming dialogue between the US and North Korea is becoming increasingly difficult.

By Lee Yong-in, staff reporter

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