NORTH KOREA Nuclear weapon test threatened
The United States has called on Pyongyang to completely disarm.
BEIJING (AP) -- North Korea has threatened to test a nuclear weapon unless Washington accepts Pyongyang's conditions for a freeze on its atomic program, jeopardizing disarmament talks, a senior U.S. official said.
North Korea urged the United States to make a "responsible, bold decision" during six-nation talks on the dispute today, after reports that Pyongyang demanded massive energy aid in exchange for the freeze.
Two previous rounds of talks have made little headway, and the North Korean threat of a nuclear test suggested the latest round may be unsuccessful, said a senior U.S. official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity. The other participants are South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
Host China canceled a planned closing ceremony Saturday, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman who would give only his surname, Wang.
Two earlier rounds of six-nation talks in the Chinese capital have ended with closing ceremonies, but Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said the lack of one did not reflect on the progress of the talks.
"It's not necessary that every time there is an opening ceremony and a closing ceremony. It's not necessary to have so much protocol," Zhang said at a briefing.
China thinks the talks have shown the will of all six countries to solve the issue through dialogue, she said.
"It has become the consensus of the various parties that as the first step of denuclearization, there should be an early kickoff of a nuclear freeze with corresponding measures" from other participants in the talks, Zhang said.
"Of course, there are differences on how to implement a nuclear freeze," she added. "It's a positive sign that the various sides want to study the various proposals."
U.S. proposal
The United States insists on complete disarmament by the communist state. It submitted a proposal to this week's conference outlining a step-by-step plan and the benefits North Korea could receive if it complies.
Also today, the North renewed a demand for the United States to drop its "hostile policy," though it made no public response to the American proposal.
"It is high time the U.S. made a responsible, bold decision," said the North Korean official newspaper Minju Joson, quoted by the North's main news agency.
North Korea's own proposal reportedly calls for energy aid in exchange for freezing its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.
It was unclear whether that included a commitment to dismantle the program.
There was no indication of when North Korea might carry out its threat to test.