Seoul, September 13: North Korean officials refuse to corroborate claims that the country is preparing to launch its third nuclear test in the face of international objection.
The test is scheduled for late September or early October on the instruction of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the head of the Seoul-based Open Radio of North Korea claimed last Wednesday, according to an AFP report.
The radio, founded by North Korean defectors, originally reported on the possibility last week citing alleged August comments by Kim.
The test is reportedly set to be launched, should the United States exert further pressure on Pyongyang and undermine its attempts for holding a dialogue, Bloomberg said.
The first trial was launched in 2006 leading to sanctions by the UN Security Council and considerable international condemnation. The country attracted tougher sanctions by discontinuing disarmament talks in April, running a second nuclear test in May, and coupling the latter with repeated missile launches.
On Tuesday, however, US special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth expressed Washington’s willingness for talks leading to Pyongyang’s return to six-party disarmament talks.
Japan and South Korea, which together with the US, Russia and China attend the six-nation dialogue, have urged Washington to seek their consultation while talking to the North.
The North had made an indirect reference to a third test or more missile launches in a September 3 letter to the UNSC, in which it had warned of ‘stronger self-defensive countermeasures’ in response to some council members’ attempts to mount sanctions before a dialogue.
Seoul’s unification ministry and National Intelligence Service have declined to comment on reports of a third nuclear test by Pyongyang.
—–Agencies