The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Monday it has successfully conducted "one more" underground nuclear test earlier in the day.

In a statement released by the official news agency KCNA, the DPRK government said the test was "part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defence in every way as requested by its scientists and technicians."

"The current nuclear test was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control and the results of the test helped satisfactorily settle the scientific and technological problems arising in further increasing the power of nuclear weapons and steadily developing nuclear technology," the statement said.

But the brief statement did not give any details about the test, including its location.

The test came after the United Nations Security Council adopted a presidential statement in late April, condemning the April 5 rocket launch by the DPRK and demanding the country "not conduct any further launch."

Pyongyang subsequently announced it was quitting the six-party talks on nuclear disarmament and would restart nuclear facilities in protest of the UN statement.

The DPRK conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.

Source: Xinhua