October 6, 2006
NORTH Korea can have a future or it can have nuclear weapons but "it cannot have both", the US said, as staunch ally China warned "no one is going to protect" the regime should it go ahead with atomic tests.
Beijing's ominous caution breaks a longstanding policy of avoiding criticism of Pyongyang, and leaves the Stalinist state without the support of its sole powerful friend.
"I think if North Koreans do have the nuclear test, I think that they have to realise that they will face serious consequences," China's UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, said.
The rebuke spells trouble for North Korea, which faces a relatively united front against its nuclear aspirations, in sharp contrast to the fractured reaction to a series of missile tests in July. At that time, China accused Japan of overreacting in calling for sanctions.
The North said earlier this week that it planned to test an atomic bomb, and a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Seoul said yesterday the threat was not "bragging" but "a real action to be executed".
A US defence official said spy satellites had detected unusual activity at potential test sites, an indication that preparations were possibly under way.
The sightings were backed up by reports in South Korean media that identified Kilju, a town in the north-east near the coast, as the site of recent suspicious activity.
But the US, whose satellite images accurately predicted July's missile tests, was less sure about the latest signs.
"We don't really know what we're looking for," the US defence official said, because the North had not conducted a nuclear test before.
In a strongly worded speech, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, Christopher Hill, said the US would not accept a nuclear-armed Korea or a nuclear test.
"It can have a future or it can have these weapons. It cannot have both," he said.
But Japan, which is emerging as the lead broker in regional efforts to defuse the crisis, said it was aiming for a joint statement next week with China and possibly South Korea urging the North to give up the test, Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.
Japan has also said that the UN Security Council should issue a "speedy and united" signal to the North to exercise restraint.
US officials have been pressing China to intervene, though it is unclear how much influence the Chinese have; Beijing asked the North not to conduct the missile tests in July but was ignored.
Close observers of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il say the threat to detonate a nuclear bomb is a tactic to keep him at the centre of regional affairs and to force the US into direct negotiations over the future of his regime and aid to the impoverished country.
The US, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan have urged North Korea to resume the six-party talks on nuclear issues. Other nations, including Australia, are also urging a recommencement.
