Nuclear test violates UN sanctions

TOKYO – The U.S., the EU and Russia condemned North Korea's reported nuclear test Monday as a violation of U.N. resolutions and promised to take the isolated regime before the Security Council. Even China joined the chorus of disapproval, saying it "resolutely opposed" the test.

The response from Beijing, the North's closest ally, came hours after most of the world had weighed in, but it was unequivocal.

"The Chinese government expresses that it is resolutely opposed to this," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It wasn't clear if the delay was due to internal discussions or because the country's foreign minister is out of the country.

In the wave of condemnation, all five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — denounced the test, North Korea's second, and many declared it a violation of sanctions. The council was set to take up the issue at 4:30 p.m. in New York (2030 GMT).

The U.S. offered a quick and pointed criticism.

"North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," President Barack Obama said in a statement. "North Korea's behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia."

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CBS that if Pyongyang continues to develop a nuclear weapons program it "poses a grave threat to the United States."

Obama, who said the moves were in "blatant defiance" of the Security Council, said Washington will be working in the days ahead with the council and other nations that have been trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.

In Brussels, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, denounced the test as a flagrant violation of Security Council resolutions.

"These irresponsible acts by North Korea warrant a firm response by the international community," Solana said in a statement. "The European Union will be in contact with its partners to discuss appropriate measures."

President Dmitry Medvedev's spokeswoman, Natalya Timakova, said in a statement that Monday's test caused "deep regret and the most serious concern" in Russia.

Moscow "condemns the action which is eroding the nuclear nonproliferation regime."

"Those who initiated the decision to conduct the nuclear test bear personal responsibility before the global community," the statement said.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier suggested the Security Council "will meet during the day today" to discuss the test and may talk about "the strengthening of sanctions."

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso agreed it violated U.N. sanctions and called it "unacceptable." Japan is particularly sensitive to such actions because its territory is within North Korean missile range.

If true, the test "is a serious violation of the norm established by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and as such deserves universal condemnation," said Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the treaty's preparatory commission said in a statement.

Major nuclear powers have observed moratoriums on testing in recent years, but India, Pakistan and North Korea all have tested bombs since the treaty was negotiated in the 1990s. The U.S. has yet to ratify the treaty, although Obama has said he will push the Senate to do so.

North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions that bar it from nuclear and ballistic activity since its first atomic test in 2006. A rocket launch in April — that the North said put a satellite into orbit but critics called a test of long-range missile technology — drew further condemnation from the world body.

In response, the North announced it was withdrawing from talks aimed at halting its nuclear program and said it would restore atomic facilities it began disabling under those negotiations. The North also launched short-range missiles on Monday.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported that a successful underground nuclear test was "safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control."

Russia's Defense Ministry said it confirmed the test and estimated its yield at 10 to 20 kilotons — a size comparable to the bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Defense Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky, speaking on state-run Rossiya television, said the test was conducted about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of the city of Kilchu.

South Korea called the test a threat to world peace.

"We are seriously concerned about North Korea's second test of a nuclear device," South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told The Associated Press. "It's a direct threat against the peace and stability in the region as well as to the world."

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told Parliament that final confirmation may take days, but said Australia is proceeding as if the reports are true and called the test a "flagrant breach of its international obligations" and a violation of U.N. sanctions that should be condemned.