This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5402018.stm

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
N Korea 'to conduct nuclear test' N Korea 'to conduct nuclear test'
(20 minutes later)
North Korea is to conduct a nuclear test to "bolster" its self-defence in the face of US military hostility, the foreign ministry has said. North Korea is to conduct a nuclear test "in the future", the foreign ministry has said in a statement.
In a statement, it said North Korea would carry out the test "in the future... where safety is firmly guaranteed" - but did not say when. The move would bolster the country's self-defence in the face of US military hostility, official agency KCNA said.
North Korea has come under mounting pressure over its nuclear programme. Pyongyang has faced mounting pressure over its nuclear programme. It is thought to have a handful of warheads but is not known to have tested one.
Six-nation talks have stalled and the UN has condemned North Korea for missile tests launched in July. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso has called the test plans "totally unforgivable", Kyodo agency reports.
North Korea is believed to have a handful of nuclear warheads but is not known to have tested one. Six-nation talks on its programme have been stalled for nearly a year, and the US has imposed financial sanctions on North Korean businesses.
'Grave situation''Grave situation'
The statement from Pyongyang said North Korea would "in future conduct a nuclear test under the condition where safety is firmly guaranteed". The statement from Pyongyang said it would "in the future conduct a nuclear test under the condition where safety is firmly guaranteed".
It accused the US of causing a "grave situation ... in which the supreme interests and security of our State are seriously infringed upon and the Korean nation stands at the crossroads of life and death". "The US daily increasing threat of a nuclear war and its vicious sanctions and pressure have caused a grave situation on the Korean Peninsula," it said.
It went on to say "the US extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel [North Korea] to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering nuclear deterrent". The ministry went on to say that "under the present situation in which the US moves to isolate and stifle" North Korea, the country "can no longer remain an onlooker to the developments."
It added that the country would "never use nuclear weapons first but strictly prohibit any threat of nuclear weapons and transfer". href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5402292.stm" class="bodl">N Korean statement in full
And it said that North Korea "will always sincerely implement its international commitment in the field of nuclear non-proliferation as a responsible nuclear weapons state".