North Korea warned Friday that it would take self-defense measures if the U.N. Security Council punished it for this week's nuclear test.

"There is a limit to our patience,' said a North Korean spokesperson in a released statement. The country's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

[I]f the UNSC will make further provocative actions, this will inevitably lead to the DPRK's approach towards adopting stronger self-defensive counter-measures, North Korea said.

North Korea also accused the Council of hypocrisy noting its members have tested thousands of nuclear weapons.

The recent nuclear test conducted by the DPRK is the 2054th one on the earth. The five permanent members of the UNSC have conducted 99.99 percent of all the nuclear tests, North Korea said.

Friday's launch of a short-range missile on Friday was the sixth one North Korea has fired since Monday's nuclear test.

Fears of military skirmishes in disputed waters off the western coast of the country have increased. North Korea this week nullified the truce which kept the peace with South Korea since the Korean War ended in 1953.

About a dozen Chinese ships could be seen leaving a north Korean port to other locations, possibly to avoid military confrontations, according to the Associated Press.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said more than 280 Chinese vessels were fishing in the area earlier this week but their number has dropped to about 140.

A Pentagon spokesman said Friday there is no sign of stepped up North Korean military activity, according to Reuters.

South Korea