Asia-Pacific

UN council condemns DPRK's nuclear test

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-10-10 08:44

Members of the UN Security Council on Monday condemned the nuclear weapons test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPEK) and urged DPRK to return to the six-party talks, its president said.

Council president of the month Japanese U.N. ambassador Kenzo Oshima also urged the DPRK to abandon its nuclear program and programs relating to missiles. "It is the desire of the Security Council to find an appropriate measure in order to respond to this test, which has posed a threat to peace and security in the region and beyond," he said.

Chinese ambassador to the U.N. Wang Guangya said China's position on DPRK's nuclear program is known to all and China is ready to discuss with other Council members how the Council should react to the new challenge "firmly, constructively and prudently."

The French and British ambassadors to the U.N. said DPRK's nuclear test was a threat to international peace and security, and the council must follow up on the warning it made Friday urging the DPRK not to go ahead with it.

"The council has warned North Korea (DPRK) last week, so the Council has to be up to its responsibility," France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said, adding that the "time has come" for a Chapter 7 resolution, which includes the threat of sanctions.

The DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency said on Monday morning that the country had successfully conducted its first-ever underground nuclear test.