Report: N. Korea threatens more nuke tests

Pyongyang - North Korea's No. 2 leader threatened further nuclear tests if the United States continues its "hostile attitude" toward the communist regime, a news report said Wednesday.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said in rare direct criticism of the communist regime from Seoul that the security threat cited by North Korea is exaggerated or nonexistent.

"North Korea says the reason it is pursuing nuclear (weapons) is for its security, but the security threat North Korea speaks of either does not exist in reality, or is very exaggerated," Roh said, according to Yonhap news agency.

Also Wednesday, South Korea's defense minister said that Seoul could enlarge its conventional arsenal to deal with a potentially nuclear-armed North Korea.

"If North Korea really has the (nuclear) capabilities, we will improve and enlarge the number of conventional weapons as long as it doesn't violate the principle of denuclearization," Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung told parliament.

"We will supplement (our ability) to conduct precision strikes against storage facilities and intercept delivery means, while also improving the system of having military units and individuals defend themselves," he said.

Kim Yong Nam, second to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, said in an interview in Pyongyang with Japan's Kyodo News agency that the regime's actions would depend on U.S. policy toward it.

"The issue of future nuclear tests is linked to U.S. policy toward our country," Kim was quoted as telling Kyodo when asked whether Pyongyang will conduct any more nuclear tests.

"If the United States continues to take a hostile attitude and apply pressure on us in various forms, we will have no choice but to take physical steps to deal with that," he said.

Kim also suggested that Pyongyang was ready to return to stalled six-party talks if sanctions against the reclusive regime are lifted, Kyodo reported.

The reclusive communist state claimed on Monday to have carried out a successful nuclear test.

The top U.S. general in South Korea said Wednesday that American forces are fully capable of deterring an attack from the North despite the communist nation's claim of a nuclear test.

"Be assured that the alliance has the forces necessary to deter aggression, and should deterrence fail, decisively defeat any North Korean attack against" South Korea, U.S. Army Gen. B.B. Bell said in a statement to troops. "U.S. forces have been well trained to confront nuclear, biological and chemical threats."

About 29,500 U.S. troops are deployed in the South, a remnant of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced by a peace treaty.

Bell said the seismic waves detected after the claimed test were still being analyzed and that it had not been yet determined if they indicated a successful nuclear test.

Nonetheless, he added, "While this test is a significant development, there is no cause for alarm within the command."

Under arrangements dating back to the Korean War, Bell would assume command of all allied forces on the Korean Peninsula in the event of a renewed conflict.

"We are executing daily operations and maintaining our readiness at appropriate levels," he said. -- The Associated Press

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