North Korea has warned that any attempt to pursue the complete denuclearization of the country will be considered a "declaration of war" that will be met with a nuclear response.

Jo Chol-su, director general of the international organization department at North Korea's foreign ministry, issued the warning in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday.

The statement was issued after U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield raised the issue of human rights in the North at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday and called for the North's denuclearization in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, a term known as "CVID."

Jo said that any force that tries to apply CVID to the country will be dealt with resolutely in accordance with the North's nuclear force policy.

The official said that the U.S. has no right to criticize human rights conditions in the North, claiming that the U.S. committed crimes against humanity and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of civilians during its invasion of Iraq 20 years ago.

Jo said the U.S.' condemnation of North Korea on the UN stage only reveals to the world the failure of the anachronistic and unrealistic style of U.S. diplomacy.