North Korea plans nuclear test, U.S. calls it threat http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-10-03T152443Z_01_SEO368511_RTRUKOC_0_US-KOREA-NORTH-1.xml&src=100306_1140_TOPSTORY_nuclear_test_threat
Tue Oct 3, 2006
By Jonathan Thatcher
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it would conduct its first nuclear test, and Washington warned it would respond to such an "unacceptable threat" to world peace.
A statement by the Foreign Ministry of the isolated communist state blamed a U.S. "threat of nuclear war and sanctions" for forcing its hand.
Pyongyang's announcement was condemned by neighboring Japan, and South Korea heightened its security alert. Britain said it would view a test as highly provocative, while Russia urged North Korea to show restraint.
North Korea's relations with the outside world have become even more tense than usual since it test-fired missiles in July.
"The U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel the DPRK (North Korea) to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering nuclear deterrent, as a corresponding measure for defense," said the statement carried by North Korea's official KCNA news agency.
It added that it would never use nuclear weapons first and would "do its utmost to realize the denuclearization of the peninsula and give impetus to the world-wide nuclear disarmament and the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons".
The two Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia have held talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, but North Korea walked out of them a year ago and refuses to return until Washington ends a financial squeeze.
U.S. CONDEMNATION
The U.S. State Department quickly released a statement in Cairo, where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was meeting Arab officials. "A North Korea test would severely undermine our confidence in the North Koreans' commitment to six-party talks and would pose an unacceptable threat to peace and stability in Asia and the world," it said.
"A provocative action of this nature would only further isolate the North Korean regime and deny the people of the North the benefits they so rightly deserve," it added. "The U.S. will continue to work with its allies and partners to discourage such a reckless action and will respond appropriately."
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton urged the U.N. Security Council to respond to the North Korean move. "Obviously the ballistic missiles, if mated with nuclear weapons, would be a very grave threat to international peace and security," he said before consultations among the 15 council members.
Analysts say North Korea probably has enough fissile material to make six to eight nuclear bombs but not the technology to make one small enough to mount on a missile.
Pyongyang's most extreme saber-rattling to date appeared aimed at trying to force Washington into direct one-to-one talks and to end a painful crackdown on impoverished North Korea's offshore bank accounts, analysts said. Washington has rejected the idea of bilateral talks until Pyongyang returns to the six-party negotiations.
Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said any nuclear test would be unacceptable. "North Korea needs to realize that unless it responds to the concerns of international society, its situation will only worsen," he told reporters.
DANGEROUS
"Russia urges Pyongyang to exercise restraint and expresses the hope that North Korea can make a correct choice," Moscow said, calling for the resumption of the six-country talks.
Officials in China -- North Korea's main supplier of aid -- gave no immediate official response to the announcement. South Korean security officials met and issued a statement outlining the increased security alert. Britain said a test would have serious consequences for North Korea.
Shi Yinhong, professor of International Relations at Renmin University in Beijing said Pyongyang was increasingly controlled by hardliners. "Its policies and words have become more and more extreme. The situation is really dangerous," he added.
"It's not that they will do that (a test) this month or next month. Technological preparations take time. But they want to tell the world that a political decision has been made and they will just do it." North Korea has a long history of triggering diplomatic crises to get itself heard.
"It wouldn't care if its people starve due to toughened economic sanctions, and a military attack on North Korea will be really difficult considering opposition from South Korea, China and Russia," said Chang Myung-soon, an expert on North Korea's military.
North Korea blamed the United States for the latest ratcheting up of tension on the Korean peninsula, divided for more than 50 years since a war for which no formal peace treaty has ever been signed.
It accused Washington of trying to topple its government with the financial crackdown. The United States has said the measures are aimed at curbing illicit activity like counterfeiting.
Renmin University's Shi said: "They are also using this as a means to scare the United States and its allies to ease the sanctions and pressures imposed on it. Their primary concern is the financial sanctions."
John Swensen-Wright, associate professor at the Chatham House think-tank in London, said the announcement appeared timed for the coming congressional elections in the United States.
(Additional reporting by Jack Kim and Kim So-young in Seoul, Linda Sieg in Tokyo, Chris Buckley in Beijing and Gideon Long in London)
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