World leaders should be pressuring North Korea not to stage a nuclear weapons test as the political and environmental consequences could be disastrous, the UN atomic watchdog said today.
Asked what the effect of a North Korean nuclear test would be, Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters: "There will be disastrous political repercussions in Asia and the rest of the world. I think there could be major environmental fallout, which could lead into dissemination of radioactivity in the region."
Speaking on the sidelines of a UN-sponsored conference on nuclear disarmament, Mr ElBaradei said the situation with North Korea was urgent, especially given recent intelligence reports that Pyongyang may preparing a nuclear test that would confirm it a member of the club of nuclear-armed states.
"I hope every leader who has contact with North Korea is on the phone today with North Korean authorities to dissuade (them) from a test," he said.
ElBaradei urged North Korea to return to the negotiating table and to stop trying to extort the world with threats.
"I think it will just get things from bad to worse. I'm not sure North Korea will gain anything by continuing ... to escalate the situation, by continuing to pursue nuclear blackmail," he said.
Six-party talks involving the United States, North and South Korea, China, Japan and Russia on Pyongyang's nuclear program have been stalled for almost a year, and recent efforts to restart them have shown little progress.