North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said there is nothing to prevent Pyongyang from carrying out a fourth nuclear test, a statement posted on Tuesday by state media outlet the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The statement followed a flurry of remarks about North Korea by U.S. President Barack Obama, who last Friday used a joint press conference in Seoul to indicate Pyongyang needed to be serious about denuclearization if it wanted talks with Washington.

Absent an avenue for dialogue, President Obama’s call for denuclearization meant that Washington sought to “bring down the DPRK by force” – a fact