North Korea Nuclear test imminent

Last Updated: Tuesday, 3 October 2006, 10:50 GMT 11:50 UK

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N Korea ‘to conduct nuclear test’

North Korea is to conduct a nuclear test “in the future”, the foreign ministry has said in a statement.
The move would bolster the country’s self-defence in the face of US military hostility, official agency KCNA said.

Pyongyang has faced mounting pressure over its nuclear programme. It is thought to have a handful of warheads but is not known to have tested one.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso has called the test plans “totally unforgivable”, Kyodo agency reports.

Six-nation talks on its programme have been stalled for nearly a year, and the US has imposed financial sanctions on North Korean businesses.

COUNTDOWN TO CRISIS
Sept 2005: Hailed as an historic 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

N Korean statement in full
N Korea nuclear timeline

‘Grave situation’

The statement from Pyongyang said it would “in the future conduct a nuclear test under the condition where safety is firmly guaranteed”, though it did not state when.

“The US daily increasing threat of a nuclear war and its vicious sanctions and pressure have caused a grave situation on the Korean Peninsula,” it said.

The ministry went on to say that “under the present situation in which the US moves to isolate and stifle” North Korea, the country “can no longer remain an onlooker to the developments.”

The move comes after the UN imposed sanctions on North Korea in July, for test-firing seven missiles including a long-range Taepodong-2 – believed to be capable of reaching Alaska.

The missile tests also prompted South Korea to suspend aid to the North, and correspondents say China had been showing signs of frustration with its old Communist ally.

The latest announcement is likely to cause alarm in the region.

A successful nuclear test would put pressure on Japan and South Korea to develop their own nuclear capabilities.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5402018.stm