S.Korea gravely concerned at North's test threat
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-10-04 14:41 SEOUL- South Korea voiced grave concern on Wednesday
over North Korea's plans to test a nuclear device.
North Korea announced on Tuesday it planned to
carry out its first nuclear test, saying its hand had been forced by a U.S.
"threat of nuclear war and sanctions."
"This government reaffirms the position that
North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons will never be allowed," South Korean
Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho told reporters.
He said his government was gravely concerned by
North Korea's statement and urged Pyongyang to scrap its plans, which would
ratchet up tensions even further on the Cold War's last frontier.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said North
Korea would suffer universal condemnation and weaken its own security if it
carried out its threat.
The state's relations with the outside
world have become increasingly tense since it test-fired missiles in
July.
Although it said it had been forced into its
position by "the U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and
pressure," it pledged never to use nuclear weapons first and to do everything
possible to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and ultimately eliminate nuclear
weapons altogether.
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