US 'detected radioactivity' near North Korea test site
By Mark Chris,WNS Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON - The United States said it had detected traces of radioactivity in North Korea, apparently confirming Pyongyang's nuclear test, as the drive for a UN Security Council response on Saturday stalled. As the new UN leader-designated called for a "clear and strong" Security Council resolution, a US official said preliminary analysis of air samples was consistent with a nuclear blast. "There is a preliminary analysis that suggests that the event in North Korea was consistent with a nuclear explosion," the official said late Friday. The findings are the strongest evidence yet that North Korea detonated a nuclear device on Monday as it claimed. The US official said a final result was expected in several days.
South Korea said it was treating the test claim as genuine. "The government has been mapping out measures on the assumption that the announced nuclear test was genuine," said Yoon Tae-young, a spokesman for President Roh Moo-Hyun. "Therefore, there is no change in the way the government is handling the situation just because radioactivity was detected," he told the national news agency Yonhap.
While military scientists pored over the samples, frantic diplomacy continued as world powers struggled to reach agreement on how to respond. Russia and China voiced last-minute objections to a US draft Security Council resolution, throwing into doubt an expected vote on Saturday. The compromise text specifically rules out the use of force in what was seen as a key concession to China, North Korea's closest ally and its biggest provider of aid. "I thought we had agreed to go to a vote tomorrow morning (Saturday)," said US ambassador John Bolton. China is key to agreeing a unified response but has cautioned that "punishment is not the goal" of sanctions. Russia also maintains close ties with Pyongyang and said on Friday that North Korea wanted to revive six-party talks on its nuclear programme "in the near future". The five veto-wielding powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - plus Japan would meet Saturday ahead of private consultations by the full 15-member Security Council.
posted by wnsworld @ 6:55 AM
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