N Korea announces nuclear test plan

North Korea has threatened to conduct a nuclear test to bolster its self-defence against what it calls increasing US hostility towards the government.

North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday, using the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK): “The DPRK will in the future conduct a nuclear test in a condition where safety is firmly guaranteed.”

It is the first time that North Korea has announced its intent to conduct a nuclear test amid recent concerns that it may be preparing for such an action.

The statement gave no precise date as to when a test might be carried out.

The ministry statement, carried by the North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, said: “The US extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel the DPRK to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering nuclear deterrent, as a self-defence measure in response.”

Talks

Pyongyang’s announcement comes as multilateral talks on its nuclear programme remain stalled for almost a year.

DPRK has boycotted the six-nation talks in protest over US financial restrictions imposed for its alleged illegal activity, including money-laundering and counterfeiting.

The ministry statement also said that its ultimate goal was “to settle hostile relations between the DPRK and the US and to remove the very source of all nuclear threats from the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity,” accusing the US of posing a nuclear threat in the region.

Financial measures

North Korea’s nuclear weapons were to protect its government from “the US threat of aggression” and “to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” the statement said.

Pyongyang accuses Washington of trying to topple its government through a crackdown on its finances.

It wants this ended before it will return to international talks to end its nuclear weapons programme.

The United States refuses to end the crackdown, which analysts say is causing Pyongyang’s leadership real difficulties, or to hold direct talks with North Korea outside the six-country nuclear negotiations.

The talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have been stalled since November.

Some experts have said no one knows for sure whether North Korea has actually built a nuclear weapon. The country declared itself a nuclear weapons power in February 2005, without testing.

Although it aspires to be a nuclear weapons power, North Korea has trouble feeding its people and experts said widespread floods in July could push it back into famine.

Agencies