N Korea says US must recognise it as nuke weapons state

This, following its fifth and largest atomic test

North Korea demanded today that the United States recognise it as a "legitimate nuclear weapons state" following its fifth and largest atomic test.

"(President Barack) Obama is trying hard to deny the DPRK's (North Korea's) strategic position as a legitimate nuclear weapons state but it is as foolish an act as trying to eclipse the sun with a palm," said a foreign ministry spokesman quoted by the official KNCA news agency.