The White House has urged North Korea to cease what it calls “provocative threats” and to respect the will of the international community.

Presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the North's plan to reactivate its nuclear reactor and boycott the six-way nuclear talks is "a serious step in the wrong direction."

He said the international community won't accept North Korea "unless it verifiably abandons its pursuit of nuclear weapons."

At the State Department, deputy spokesman Robert Wood urged the North to swiftly return to the six-way nuclear talks, stressing that a U.N. Security Council statement released Tuesday on the North calls for the swift resumption of the nuclear negotiations.