, A nuclear test by North Korea would pose an “unacceptable threat” to peace and stability in the world and would further isolate the reclusive nation, the U.S. State Department said on Oct. 3.
A statement from the North Korean Foreign Ministry released earlier said Pyongyang would conduct its first nuclear test and blamed a U.S. “threat of nuclear war and sanctions” for forcing its hand.
“It would be a very provocative act by the North Koreans,” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
“A North Korean nuclear test would … create a qualitatively different situation on the Korean peninsula,” she said, saying other countries in the region would likely reassess their dealings with Pyongyang if it conducted a test.
North Korea has refused to return to six-party talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States that are designed to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions in exchange for economic and political benefits.
“A North Korea test would severely undermine our confidence in the North Koreans
