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Saturday July 22, 4:44 PMU.S. carefully watching possibility of N. Korea nuke test(Kyodo) _ The United States is vigilantly watching the possibility of North Korea conducting a nuclear test now that it has test-fired ballistic missiles, a senior U.S. administration official told Kyodo News on Friday."I wouldn't rule it out," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding he is unaware of any indication from North Korea that it plans to test its nuclear weapons. Asked if the United States is exercising "vigilance" about a nuclear test, the official said, "Very absolutely." North Korea warned of bolstering its "war deterrent for self-defense in every way by all means" in a Foreign Ministry statement issued a day after the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution July 15 condemning Pyongyang for the July 5 missile launches. Asked if North Korea has the ability to conduct nuclear tests, the officials said, "I would assume so...It's not that hard to conduct one if you've got the fissile material and the device." A nuclear test "would be quite counterproductive, but North Korea does things all the time that are counterproductive," he said. But the official warned Pyongyang that it "would be yet another very provocative act...that further isolates them and further brings the international community together in terms of determination to react to this threat." Expressing hope on the Chinese role, the official said he believes the missile launches "will move them closer to exercising more leverage" on North Korea to comply with the resolution to recommit to the 1999 missile-test moratorium and return to the six-party denuclearization talks. "I've always thought that there could be a lot more that they could do in terms of exercising leverage," the official said. The possibility of a North Korean nuclear test hit headlines in the spring of last year, raising international concern about the North's preparations at its test site. But there has been no nuclear test so far. |
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