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'Stern' response to nuke threat
04/10/2006 10:16 - (SA)
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| A poster held by a protester in a Seoul rally against North Korea's statement about a nuclear test. (Ahn Young-joon, AP) |
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Jae-Soon Chang
Seoul - South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun called on Wednesday for a "cool-headed and stern" response to North Korea's threat to conduct a nuclear test, his office said.
Roh made the remark after being briefed on the outcome of an emergency meeting of security ministers, the presidential office said.
It was Roh's first comment since North Korea said on Tuesday it would test a nuclear bomb at an unspecified date.
Further details on Roh's comments were not immediately available.
'Shift' in relations
Earlier in the day, South Korea urged the North to withdraw the test plan and return to international disarmament talks on its nuclear programme, warning a test could bring about a "shift" in inter-Korean relations.
But foreign ministry spokesperson Choo Kyu-ho stressed Seoul is not considering abandoning its engagement policy with North Korea.
"There could be a shift in our policy toward North Korea if North Korea conducts a test, but that doesn't mean at all that we're going to abandon our engagement policy."
South Korea has consistently pursued dialogue with North Korea since their leaders first met in a historic summit in 2000. That approach has caused a rift with Washington that favours a harder line toward the communist regime.
Seoul is one of the main aid providers to the impoverished North.
'Provocative act
North Korea said Tuesday that it would conduct a nuclear explosion to prove the country is a nuclear power. Pyongyang has since last year claimed it has atomic bombs, but hasn't performed any known test to verify that.
The North's announcement prompted South Korea to raise its security level and spurred strong condemnation from countries around the world. US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said a North Korean nuclear test would be "a very provocative act".
- AP
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