Pyongyang uses N-test threat to press terms

US/North Korea: North Korea has threatened to test a nuclear device unless the US accepts its conditions for a freeze of its…

US/North Korea: North Korea has threatened to test a nuclear device unless the US accepts its conditions for a freeze of its nuclear weapons programme, jeopardising the success of six-party talks in Beijing. Clifford Coonan reports from Beijing.

US diplomats said North Korea made the threat during a two-hour meeting between Washington's envoy, Mr James Kelly, and North Korean negotiators on the sidelines of the crisis talks in the Chinese capital on Thursday.

The threat to test a nuclear device underlined fears that the third round of talks between North and South Korea, the US, Japan, Russia and China could yet again end without progress, despite tentative signs of slightly warmer relations early in the negotiations.

South Korea was keen to play down the threat.

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"The North Korean side mentioned it as a possibility in the future. That does not represent a direct threat," one official said.

Washington reckons that North Korea, which maintains a cult around its leader, Mr Kim Jong-il, the Dear Leader, has at least one or two nuclear bombs made from plutonium.

However, some experts in the field are doubtful that it is able to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile.

North Korea wants the US to give up its demand for a complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of its nuclear programme and called on Washington to make a "responsible, bold decision".

It reportedly asked for the equivalent of 2,000 megawatts of power per year - comparable to an estimated one-fourth of its current total consumption - in exchange for freezing its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.

The US tabled a seven-page offer, which gives North Korea three months to accept the US incentives in exchange for scrapping its nuclear plans.

Washington's offer also contains a proposal to lift economic sanctions against North Korea and remove the country from its list of terrorism sponsors.

"The most concrete . . . and specific proposal on the table is that made by the United States yesterday with the support of other governments who were there," a State Department spokesman, Mr Richard Boucher, said in Washington.

"We look to the North Koreans to study that proposal seriously."

Both Japan and South Korea say they would consider giving the North fuel oil if it freezes its nuclear programme, while Russia said it would be willing to help provide energy aid and security guarantees.

Two earlier rounds of talks have ended inconclusively, without closing ceremonies.

China reportedly held separate meetings with the United States and North Korea to try and convince them to issue a statement outlining common ground.

The parties were set to release a communiqué although it was unclear in what form. So far the parties have never issued a statement with the word "joint" in the title.