Stockholm - Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Monday he was alarmed over reports that North Korea appears to have conducted a nuclear test.

"It is alarming that the North Korean regime continues to provoke the international community," Bildt said in a statement released by the Swedish Foreign Ministry.

Bildt was Monday attending a meeting of Asian and European countries gathered in Hanoi, Vietnam.

"In a poor, oppressed society, the extremely secluded regime uses enormous resources on these ever more serious provocations," Bildt said.

He added that there was reason to believe that this would make it even harder to tackle "the growing economic and social problems in North Korea."

North Korea earlier Monday said it had conducted a nuclear test. (dpa)