North Korea announces

“We will do nuclear tests”

PYONGYANG – The Foreign Minister of North Korea has declared that his country will conduct nuclear tests in the future. This was announced by the Japanese news agency Jiji, which re-launched the official North Korean KCNA.

According to a spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry, the decision was taken by Pyongyang because it was “forced by American hostility”. The spokesman did not provide details on the date scheduled for the test, the first of its kind in North Korea, but stated that all measures will be taken to ensure its safety.

The communication takes place almost two months after a series of North Korean missile experiments condemned by the UN and in conjunction with the Japanese announcement on a visit to Beijing and Seoul by new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. On the occasion of the missile crisis, Abe was among the most active supporters of UN sanctions that paved the way for international military intervention against Pyongyang. Tokyo’s reaction to the news from Pyongyang was indeed extremely harsh. Foreign Minister Aso spoke of “unforgivable behavior”.

After a long diplomatic skirmish, however, the possibility of such sanctions had been discarded on Chinese and South Korean pressures. North Korea had announced in February 2005 that it had nuclear weapons: in an attempt to defuse the situation a six-party international negotiation had begun, based in Beijing but stalled for almost a year.

October 3, 2006