North Korea plans nuclear test

WASHINGTON -- North Korea startled a six-nation conference on East Asian security by announcing its intentions to formally declare its possession of nuclear weapons and to carry out a nuclear test, a Bush administration official said Thursday.\nNorth Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il also told the gathering in Beijing that his country has the means to deliver nuclear weapons, an apparent reference to the North's highly developed missile program, the official said.\nThe comments cast a pall over Thursday's plenary session, which included representatives of the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, in addition to North Korea, raising questions about the success of negotiations scheduled to conclude today.\nNevertheless, the diplomats agreed on the need to hold more such talks and probably will, a South Korean official said.\nJames Kelly, the chief U.S. delegate, demanded at the talks that North Korea engage in the verifiable and permanent dismantling of its nuclear weapons programs, in return for which the United States would provide security guarantees and economic benefits to the impoverished nation, said the U.S. administration official, asking not to be identified.