Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are reaching “a nuclear crisis” that exceeds the Cold War era, North Korea said Thursday in rare comments at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC).

DPRK Ambassador Kim Song placed the blame solely on the U.S. for the current friction, warning that it was up to Washington to decide whether an “extreme situation” will occur.

It was the first time in years that North Korea spoke at a UNSC meeting. The U.S., Albania, France, Japan, Malta and the U.K. requested the emergency meeting after North Korea conducted a second testof its Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic