International response
The White House condemned the nuclear test as "a provocative act."
US President George W. Bush said that the test poses a threat to global peace
and security and denounced it as "unacceptable."
Bush said the action "deserves an immediate response" by the UN Security
Council, which was holding an emergency meeting by press time.
He also said the transfer of nuclear weapons or material would constitute "a
grave threat" to the United States, and the DPRK would be held "fully
accountable for the consequences of such action."
Bush said he had telephoned the leaders of China, Russia, the ROK and Japan
after the test.
Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on the need for a
co-ordinated response to the DPRK, the Kremlin said.
"The presidents agree that the brazen act of the DPRK has dealt a blow to the
non-proliferation regime, and with this in mind, they stress the need for
co-ordinated actions to resolve the problem," the Kremlin said in a statement.
ROK President Roh Moo-hyun and Bush agreed to deal with the issue
"strategically through close consultation with friendly countries," an ROK
Foreign Ministry official said.
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South Korean Army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence
in Paju, north of Seoul, near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) of Panmunjom,
South Korea, October 9, 2006. South Korea's Defense Ministry said the
alert level of the military had been raised in response to the claimed
nuclear test. [AP Photo]
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Roh also told Bush that the DPRK's move was "very disappointing" and the ROK
is taking it as an unacceptable provocation, and the country will support what
the United Nations will do about it.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed with Bush to take "decisive action"
against the DPRK at the UN Security Council.
The two leaders, who spoke by phone yesterday, called the test a grave threat
to international security and agreed to push for "decisive action" at the UN
Security Council, which was to meet later yesterday in New York, Japan's Foreign
Ministry said in a statement.
India said Monday it was "deeply concerned" by the nuclear test, warning it
could jeopardize peace in the region, the external affairs ministry said.
In a strongly worded statement, India said Pyongyang is "in violation of its
international commitments, jeopardizing peace, stability and security on the
Korean Peninsula and in the region."
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry also criticized the DPRK for conducting the
nuclear test, calling it a "destabilizing development for the region."
"It is regrettable that the DPRK chose to ignore the advice of the
international community not to test a nuclear weapon," ministry spokeswoman
Tasnim Aslam told a news conference in the capital, Islamabad.
Aslam said Pakistan, which is also a nuclear-armed state, supported the
Six-Party Talks aimed at getting the DPRK to step back from its nuclear
programme.
However, Iranian state radio has blamed the nuclear test on American pressure
of the Asian nation, accusing Washington of "humiliating" the country. "Not only
did the United States not lift the sanctions it had imposed on the DPRK, it even
increased the diplomatic pressure. Such pressure finally led the DPRK to conduct
its nuclear test," the radio said in a commentary yesterday.
