China urges UN action on N Korea

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China has called for "appropriate" UN action over North Korea's claim to have carried out a nuclear test on Monday.

Beijing - traditionally Pyongyang's closest ally - said it had not ruled out UN sanctions but that military action was "unimaginable".

The UN Security Council is considering a draft resolution that proposes strict financial and trade sanctions.

Russia described the reported nuclear test as a "colossal blow" but stressed the solution was not military force.

The US ambassador to the UN said while the US would not rule out using force, it was seeking a diplomatic solution.

The South Korean Prime Minister, Han Myung-sook, said Seoul would not support a resolution including a threat of military force.

'Peaceful settlement'

Russia, which like China has resisted sanctions in the past, has said it is "ready to take part in joint efforts of the interested parties to arrive at a peaceful, diplomatic settlement of the situation".

"For us that is very important... imagine if there was military action on the territory of North Korea. North Korea has borders with three countries, and one of them is Russia," Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov told the Reuters news agency.

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The response of China - the country that holds the most influence over the isolated regime - is seen by many analysts to be key in moving the crisis forward.

China's UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, has said North Korea must face "some punitive actions" for conducting a nuclear test.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said: "This will no doubt have a negative impact on China and North Korea's relations."

He said the UN should take "appropriate action" but added that China was still considering the nature of that action.

However, when asked what China thought of the possibility of military action, Mr Liu told a news conference: "I think this is an unimaginable way."

In further developments, a South Korean seismologist has warned that North Korea could repeat a nuclear test in order to ensure the accuracy of its results.

"They will not end the test after only one experience. As it has to gather various data, the nuclear test can be conducted again," Chi Heon-cheol, Chief Seismologist at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources said.

North Korea's neighbours remain tense in the wake of Monday's announcement. China has reportedly cancelled leave for troops along part of its border with the North, and South Korean forces have been ordered to stay alert.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun feared the move could "spark a nuclear arms build-up in other countries" but Japan, the only nation to suffer atomic attack, has pledged that it will not develop nuclear weapons in response.

'Further communication'

New Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Japanese parliament: "Possession of nuclear arms is not an option at all for our country."

India, which carried out nuclear tests in 1998, condemned the test, and said it supported the six-party talks.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: "A further erosion of the non-proliferation regime is not in our interest. We do not support the emergence of another nuclear weapons state."

HAVE YOUR SAY What is the world coming to? Mankind should be so much more civilized than this Jessica Cogswell, USA <a href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=4191&edition=2&ttl=20061009081648" class="">Send us your comments</a>

Meeting in New York, the UN Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea over its claimed test.

On Tuesday the Security Council continued to discuss a further response, including possible sanctions.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told the French parliament on Tuesday: "These sanctions particularly concern the ballistic missile programme but also the weapons of mass destruction programme.

"We hope that this resolution will be adopted as quickly as possible."

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the claimed test "poses a clear threat to international peace and security".

US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said that while the US would never rule out the use of force, they were seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis through the UN.

"What we're seeking in this resolution in the wake of their nuclear test, is to strengthen... sanctions, make them more comprehensive, make it harder - hopefully impossible - for North Korea to proceed down the road to becoming a nuclear power with delivery capability," he said.

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The US, which proposed a 13-point draft resolution, wants to see the sanctions brought under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, which means they would be mandatory and ultimately enforceable by military means.

Only Iran, which also faces Security Council action over its failure to suspend its uranium enrichment programme - has voiced support for North Korea.

The underground test reportedly took place in Gilju in Hamgyong province at 1036 (0136 GMT) on Monday morning.

Confirmation of the bomb has not been made, and a White House spokesman said there was a "remote possibility that we'll never know" the size of it.

If confirmed, the test will give North Korea a place as a nuclear power alongside the US, Russia, Britain, France, India, Pakistan and China. Israel is also widely believed to have nuclear capabilities.