Japan warns of tougher measures amid fears over second NKorea nuclear test

TOKYO (AP) - Japanese and U.S. officials warned Friday of tougher measures against North Korea if the isolated communist country conducts a second nuclear test.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cautioning the communist country that a second nuclear test "no doubt would deepen its isolation."

Rice and South Korea's foreign minister, Song Min-Soon, agreed at a news conference in Washington that their governments want negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program resumed.

"If North Korea is prepared to return in a more constructive spirit" the talks could be reopened fairly soon, Rice said. But she added, "We know of no substantive response from the North Koreans."

The remarks came amid U.S. media reports that Pyongyang has appeared to have readied for another nuclear test and that the preparation steps were similar to those taken before its first nuclear detonation on Oct. 9. But Japanese and South Korean officials have not reported any signs that the North was preparing for another test.

The talks, held last month in Beijing, would swap economic incentives and a U.S. assurance of respect for North Korea's security for cessation of the nuclear weapons program that produced a nuclear test nearly two months ago.

Tokyo urged its neighbour to refrain from any developments that would stoke regional tensions.

"We think it is essential that North Korea should stop further nuclear testing and they should abandon all their nuclear programs," said Nori Shikata, assistant press secretary for Japan's Foreign Ministry. "If they conduct another nuclear test, then the international community, including Japan, will take additional measures."

Shikata did not say what other steps might be taken, but said they would be pursued through the United Nations, which authorized trade restrictions against North Korea after its October test.

Rice said "there is intensive discussion among the parties about the resumption of the six-party talks."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said negotiators were looking for "clear commitments, clear indications, clear actions" that North Korea had made the "strategic choice" to abandon its nuclear weapons.

"Obviously, conducting a second nuclear test sends the opposite signal and very clearly indicates that they have chosen to go down the pathway of deeper isolation for North Korea and the North Korean people," McCormack said.

But officials in Japan and South Korea said earlier Friday they saw no particular signs that the North was readying for a second test.

"Some unidentified activities have been detected around a suspected test site but so far there are no particular indications directly linked to an additional nuclear test," said Cho Hee-yong, a spokesman for South Korea's Foreign Ministry.

A South Korean military intelligence official said vehicle and personnel activities are constantly spotted at a suspected test site but that it was too early to say whether they indicated an imminent nuclear test, the Yonhap news agency reported, without identifying the official.

North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan said in December that his country would bolster its atomic arsenal and further improve its deterrent in response to international pressure.

The North has hailed its test as "an auspicious event in the national history," and says it serves as a key deterrent against a possible U.S. attack. Washington has repeatedly denied that it plans to invade.

In 2005, North Korea pledged to dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid but no progress has been made in implementing that accord.

© The Canadian Press, 2007