Nuclear-armed North Korea has used a U.N. disarmament meeting to warn that South Korea risks "final destruction."

The comments Tuesday by a North Korean diplomat at the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament come a week after Pyongyang conducted a third nuclear test.

Several countries, including the United States, Britain and Germany, condemned the latest test at the meeting and urged North Korea to abide by U.N. resolutions barring it from testing nuclear weapons or missiles.

South Korea called the tests a flagrant violation of U.N. resolutions and a threat to the entire international community.

Upon which North Korea's representative declared that "South Korea's erratic behavior would only herald its final destruction."

U.S. envoy Laura E. Kennedy tweeted later that the North's comments had been "offensive."