CAMP DAVID, Aug 18: President George Bush on Friday warned that North Korea would pose a threat to the world if it tested a nuclear bomb for the first time, following reports that the reclusive government was considering such a move.

The US presidentalso pressed participants in six-party talks to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear-weapons program, while a senior U.S. official played down the chances of an early nuclear test.

“If North Korea were to conduct a test, it’s just a constant reminder for people in the neighbourhood, in particular, that North Korea poses a threat,” Mr Bush said at the Camp David presidential retreat. “We expect our friends and those sitting around the table with us to act in such a manner as to help rid the world of the threat.”

Mr Bush refused to confirm or deny reports that North Korea planned to conduct underground nuclear tests.

South Korea’s point man for the North said he was sceptical of the reports and U.S. officials have said they had no new evidence of such a plan.

“There was a lot less to that report than meets the eye,” said one senior U.S. official.

Analysts said North Korea could be trying an extreme form of saber-rattling to force the international community, and Washington in particular, into making concessions to the state.

North Korea lashed out at the United States on Friday for holding annual joint military drills with South Korea next week, saying the drills are “driving the situation of the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a war.”—Reuter