North Korea says it could stop its nuclear tests in exchange for signing a peace treaty with the U.S. and a stop to annual military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea.

The North's statement is a repeat of past offers that have been rejected by the U.S., which wants Pyongyang to commit to a complete abandonment of nuclear weapons.

The state media late Friday carried the statement by an unnamed spokesman of the North's Foreign Ministry, who called the purported hydrogen bomb test on Jan. 6 a justifiable move to ensure its survival against external threats.

The North's H-bomb claims have been met with condemnation and suspicion. The Korean Peninsula remains technically at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice.

(AP)