N Korea "nuclear test" condemned

The UN Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea's claim to have tested a nuclear weapon underground.
The emergency meeting will also debate what further steps should be taken, including binding sanctions.

President George W Bush said the US is working to confirm the test claim. He branded it a "provocative" act threatening peace and stability.

He said he and regional leaders agreed North Korea's actions were unacceptable and deserved an immediate UN response.

Japan's UN ambassador, Kenzo Oshima, urged North Korea to refrain from further testing and to return to six-party talks.

He said the Security Council would now begin work on a resolution being drafted by the United States.

The session comes three days after the council agreed a formal statement urging North Korea to cancel any planned nuclear test and return to disarmament talks.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says a tough resolution condemning North Korea's actions is expected, but more time may be needed to draft a text.


N KOREA NUCLEAR PROGRAMME
Believed to have 'handful' of nuclear weapons
But not thought to have any small enough to put in a missile
Could try dropping from plane, though world watching closely

Our correspondent adds that the key question is how any threat of sanctions will be framed; whether this will be a Chapter Seven resolution - one recognising that North Korea's action represents a threat to peace that would make sanctions mandatory.

Resolutions brought under this chapter the UN Charter are legally binding and can authorise military action.

UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the UK would be "pushing for a robust response" under Chapter Seven.

"Put simply, this means we shall be pushing for sanctions against North Korea," she said.

US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said that although responses were preliminary, he was "very impressed by the unanimity of the Council on the need for a strong and swift answer".

"I didn't see any protectors of North Korea in that room," he said.

But North Korea's ambassador, Pak Gil Yon, said the Security Council should congratulate Pyongyang instead of issuing "useless" resolutions.

'Unpardonable'

In his first public statement, the US president said the North Korean claim "constitutes a threat to international peace and security."

He said he had telephoned Chinese, Japanese, Russian and South Korean leaders, who had all reaffirmed their commitment to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

"Once again, North Korea has defied the will of the international community, and the international community," he said.


"The nuclear test... marks a historic event... It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the area around it
North Korean statement
"The North Korea regime remains one of the world's leading proliferators of missile technology including transfers to Iran and Syria."

Mr Bush added that the development would not help North Korea's "oppressed and impoverished" people, who deserved a better future.

Earlier Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - visiting Seoul - called the claimed test "unpardonable".

He warned the region was "entering a new, dangerous nuclear age".

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun feared the move could "spark a nuclear arms build-up in other countries".

In an unusually strong statement against its ally, China said the claimed test "defied the universal opposition of international society".

Meanwhile, the head of the South's intelligence service said it had detected more movement at another North Korean test site and he could not rule out further nuclear tests.

'No radiation leak'

South Korean media said the test took place in Gilju in Hamgyong province at 1036 (0136 GMT).

The size of the bomb is uncertain, with estimates varying from 550 tons of destructive power to as much as 15 kilotons. The 1945 Hiroshima bomb was 12.5-15 kilotons.


KOREAN NUCLEAR CRISIS
Sept 2005: At first hailed as a breakthrough, North Korea agrees to give up nuclear activities
Next day, N Korea says it will not scrap its activities unless it gets a civilian nuclear reactor
US imposes financial sanctions on N Korea businesses
July 2006: N Korea test-fires seven missiles
UN Security Council votes to impose sanctions over the tests
Oct 2006: N Korea claims to have carried out nuclear test

But our correspondent points out the claimed test does not necessarily mean North Korea has a fully-fledged nuclear bomb or warhead that it can deliver to a target.

North Korea's KCNA news agency described the test as an "historic event that brought happiness to our military and people".

It said the test would maintain "peace and stability" in the region and was "a great leap forward in the building of a great prosperous, powerful socialist nation". There was no radiation leak, it said.

Pyongyang pulled out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 and has refused for a year to attend talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6034873.stm

Published: 2006/10/09 16:55:02 GMT

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