Alarm over N. Korea's nuclear test vow

“It would be a very provocative act,” Rice said. “A North Korean nuclear test ... would create a qualitatively different situation on the Korean peninsula,” Rice said. “I think that you would see that a number of states in the region would need to reassess where they are now with North Korea.”

The remarks appeared directed primarily at China and South Korea.

The White House, which has denied it has any intention of attacking the communist nation, also denounced the threat.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said a test “would be directly contrary to the interests of all of North Korea’s neighbors and to peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region.”

South Korea said it won’t tolerate North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons and the presidential office said the country had raised its “security level.”

“If North Korea pushes ahead with a nuclear test, North Korea should take full responsibility for all consequences,” said South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho.

The United States keeps about 29,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Japanese prime minister said North Korea’s announcement was “extremely regrettable.” Abe was responding to questions in parliament.

“Naturally, we simply could not accept if North Korea were to conduct a nuclear test,” he said.

China, North Korea’s ally and chief benefactor, had no immediate comment. North Korea counters U.S. influence in the region, but China is believed to be increasingly frustrated with North Korea’s go-it-alone belligerence.

In Finland, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said such a test “is always bad news.”

‘Gravely concerned’
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he was “gravely concerned” by the reports of a North Korean test. “Such a test would pose a threat to peace and security in Asia and the world,” he said in a statement.

In a worst-case scenario, a North Korean nuclear test could prompt Japan to seek its own nuclear deterrent, intensifying historical tensions with China and South Korea, both of which suffered under Japanese colonial rule in the early 20^th century.

A test could also strain the alliance between the United States and South Korea, which has sought to engage its neighbor.

The United States is likely to seek a military solution to the North Korean problem only as a last resort, partly because of the burden of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton raised the issue before a regularly scheduled meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. He said he urged members “to come up not just with a knee-jerk reaction ... but to develop a coherent strategy to convince them that it’s not in their interest to engage in nuclear testing.”

But France’s U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said he wants a swift council statement, and China’s U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said the best place to deal with the threat is in the six-party talks. Wang urged stepped up efforts to get the North to return to the stalled talks.

After a brief discussion, members decided to meet Wednesday morning to address the issue.

North Korea has sometimes made a splash with statements or military actions on important anniversaries at home, or political events such as elections in South Korea and the United States.

The test declaration came ahead of congressional elections in the United States in November and shortly before the expected election of South Korea’s foreign minister, Ban Ki-Moon, as secretary-general of the United Nations.

Missile tests
North Korea staged a series of missile tests to coincide with July 4, needling the United States on its Independence Day. But no talks or concessions were forthcoming.

Six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear activity have been stalled for almost a year. Pyongyang skipped the talks in protest over U.S. financial restrictions imposed for alleged illegal activity, including money laundering and counterfeiting.

“If they feel they are not getting interaction with us, they tend to do things to get our attention,” said Charles Kartman, a U.S. nuclear negotiator with North Korea under the Clinton administration. “The tools that they have are all bad ones. They don’t really have anything else going.”

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