SEOUL, Sept 8: South Korea should have reported a uranium enrichment test to the United Nations nuclear watchdog before it was conducted four years ago, a government official said on Wednesday.

South Korea acknowledged last week that scientists from the state-run Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute enriched a trace amount of uranium in three laser tests conducted in January and February 2000.

"The reporting should have been done before the experiment, not because of the experiment itself, but because it used a nuclear material," said the South Korean official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.

But the official declined to say whether the unauthorized test conducted by government scientists violated the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the main legal pact aimed at halting the spread of nuclear weapons.

"The IAEA inspectors were here, and whether it was serious enough to constitute a violation of safeguards, there will be judgement by IAEA," he said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency. IAEA officials conducted an inspection of the country's nuclear facilities last week. -Reuters