US: Nuke test a provocative act

2006-10-09 09:36

Washington - The United States on Monday condemned North Korea's claim that it had conducted a nuclear test as a "provocative act" and called for immediate action by the UN security council.

White House spokesperson Tony Snow stopped short of confirming that Pyongyang had tested a nuclear device but said a seismic event had been recorded at a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea.

Snow said US President George W Bush was informed about the North Korean test claim shortly after it happened and that the president had asked whether planned diplomatic action had been taken.

"US and South Korean intelligence detected a seismic event today (Sunday US time) at a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea," Snow told reporters.

"North Korea has claimed it conducted an underground nuclear test.

Defiance of international community

"A North Korean nuclear test would constitute a provocative act in defiance of the will of the international community and of our call to refrain from actions that would aggravate tensions in Northeast Asia," Snow said.

"We expect the security council to take immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act," the White House spokesperson said. "We would expect the security council to meet.

"The United States is closely monitoring the situation and reaffirms its commitment to protect and defend our allies in the region," he added.

Seismic event

The US Geological Survey said on Monday it had detected an earthquake of a magnitude of 4.2 degrees on the Richter scale in North Korea at 0135 GMT on Monday.

A USGS geologist told AFP the quake was a "shallow event or very close to the surface" located some 385km northeast of Pyongyang.

US informed by China

Snow, however, said the United States does not "have confirmation that North Korea was accurate in its assessment." "At this point we are still assessing the data and trying to figure out exactly what happened," he said.

Snow said North Korea called China "during the 9 o'clock hour" Sunday night (US time) to inform it of its intention to conduct the test "within a short period of time."

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice was informed by the US embassy in Beijing at about 21:45 Sunday (01:45 GMT Monday), he said, and national security adviser Stephen Hadley called President Bush at 21:58.

- AFP