ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, June 25: A White House official on Friday appeared to play down North Korea's threat to test a nuclear weapon.

"It's not the first time that the North Koreans have talked about showing their deterrent," the official said on condition of anonymity while aboard President George W. Bush's jet en route to Ireland and a NATO summit in Istanbul to begin Monday.

On Thursday, North Korea renewed the threat to conduct a nuclear weapons test, during talks with the United States on the sidelines of six-party talks to end Pyongyang's nuclear arms drive.

"They make those threats from time to time and they just serve to further isolate them," said the White House official.

On Friday, a third day of talks involving China, the two Koreas, Russia, Japan and the United States ended after less than three hours.-AFP