ali ahmad
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North Korea could conduct an additional nuclear test next month or early next year unless the United States offers economic concessions such as lifting financial restrictions, a South Korean politician claimed.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said his country should act as a nuclear power and it shouldn't negotiate for the sake of winning economic aid, opposition politician Chung Hyung-keun said at a party meeting, according to his office.
"I believe that there are specific movements in North Korea to prepare for a second nuclear test," Chung said, citing intelligence obtained by state intelligence agencies, according to Chung's office.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS), Seoul's main spy agency, declined to comment.
The communist regime stunned the world on October 9 by detonating its first nuclear device in an underground test, drawing international condemnation and harsh UN Security Council sanctions.
However, North Korea agreed recently to return to six-party talks on its nuclear arms program, ending a year-long boycott caused by Washington's financial restrictions imposed on the North over its alleged money laundering and counterfeiting.
In Beijing, the top American, North Korean and Chinese nuclear negotiators met, a US embassy spokeswoman said, in an apparent attempt to lay the foundation for progress for the talks which are expected to resume next month.
No details were immediately available but Japan's public broadcaster NHK said US assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill has called for North Korea's commitment to "concrete progress" in the next round of nuclear talks.
Kim demanded that the US lift financial sanctions and freeze UN sanctions that were imposed after the North's first nuclear test, Japan's Kyodo News agency said, citing unidentified persons at the talks.
Hill responded by saying that the possible lifting of financial sanctions can be discussed during six-party talks and working level discussions, which are expected to be held simultaneously, Kyodo said.
The talks include the US, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World...xt-nuclear-test/2006/11/29/1164777654387.html
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said his country should act as a nuclear power and it shouldn't negotiate for the sake of winning economic aid, opposition politician Chung Hyung-keun said at a party meeting, according to his office.
"I believe that there are specific movements in North Korea to prepare for a second nuclear test," Chung said, citing intelligence obtained by state intelligence agencies, according to Chung's office.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS), Seoul's main spy agency, declined to comment.
The communist regime stunned the world on October 9 by detonating its first nuclear device in an underground test, drawing international condemnation and harsh UN Security Council sanctions.
However, North Korea agreed recently to return to six-party talks on its nuclear arms program, ending a year-long boycott caused by Washington's financial restrictions imposed on the North over its alleged money laundering and counterfeiting.
In Beijing, the top American, North Korean and Chinese nuclear negotiators met, a US embassy spokeswoman said, in an apparent attempt to lay the foundation for progress for the talks which are expected to resume next month.
No details were immediately available but Japan's public broadcaster NHK said US assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill has called for North Korea's commitment to "concrete progress" in the next round of nuclear talks.
Kim demanded that the US lift financial sanctions and freeze UN sanctions that were imposed after the North's first nuclear test, Japan's Kyodo News agency said, citing unidentified persons at the talks.
Hill responded by saying that the possible lifting of financial sanctions can be discussed during six-party talks and working level discussions, which are expected to be held simultaneously, Kyodo said.
The talks include the US, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World...xt-nuclear-test/2006/11/29/1164777654387.html
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