North Korea warned of severe consequences: UN statement on N-test
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 6: The UN Security Council urged North Korea to abandon its planned nuclear test and warned Pyongang of unspecified consequences if it goes ahead, in a statement adopted unanimously on Friday.
North Korea announced on Tuesday it planned its first underground nuclear test, saying its hand had been forced by a US “threat of nuclear war and sanctions”.
Such a test would “jeopardize peace, stability and security in the region and beyond” and “bring universal condemnation by the international community”, says the council’s statement, drawn up by Japan’s UN Ambassador Kenzo Oshima, this month’s council president.
It warns North Korea that a nuclear test would lead to further unspecified Security Council action “consistent with its responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations”.
“We think the main point is that North Korea should understand how strongly the United States and other council members feel that they should not test this nuclear device,” US Ambassador John Bolton said.
“And if they do test it, it will be a very different world a day after the test,” Bolton said.
The council’s statement also urged Pyongyang to return immediately to six-party talks.
‘INCENDIARY’ EVENT: The White House warned that a North Korean nuclear test would be an ‘incendiary’ event threatening Pyongyang’s neighbors, but it refused to comment on the possible timing of the test.
“I’m not going to comment on any of our intelligence,” White House deputy spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.
Japan said North Korea could test a nuclear device as early as this weekend.
“The international community has joined us in sending a clear signal to the North Koreans that any such test of a nuclear device would be unacceptable,” Ms Perino said.
“And this hostile act would be most incendiary and threatening to North Korea’s immediate neighbors,” she said.
“It would be destabilising to the region and could lead to further escalation of tensions. And a test, by its very nature, could advance the North Koreans’ capabilities,” the spokeswoman added.
White House chief spokesman Tony Snow said on Thursday that a US diplomat’s warning that a nuclear-armed North Korea would be ‘unacceptable’ was ‘not a lethal threat’ against Pyongyang.—Reuters/AFP
