North Korea last night faced near unanimous worldwide condemnation after announcing that it had successfully carried out an underground test of a nuclear bomb, write Denis Staunton in Washington and Clifford Coonan in Beijing
Flying in the face of a warning from the UN Security Council, the decision to test the atomic weapon raises the prospect of fresh economic sanctions and even a military blockade on the already desperately poor state.
Last night the US was leading the way in drafting a resolution for the UN body that would authorise the searching of ships heading for North Korea for weapons of mass destruction and related materials under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which sanctions the use of military force.
The security council took just 30 minutes to issue a unanimous condemnation of the test. US ambassador John Bolton said he was impressed by the unity of purpose among the 15 security council member states and expressed confidence that they would agree on tough action.
Britain and France said they would support sanctions. "The discussion will be on sanctions," France's UN ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sablière, told reporters on his way into the UN Security Council session. "The time has come to have a Chapter 7 resolution."
Mr Bolton presented the council with elements of a resolution that would include international inspection of cargo, a total arms embargo and a freeze on assets associated with Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction. "We're looking for very swift action by the security council ," he said.
It could, however, take several days for intelligence analysts to determine whether the event recorded by scientists was the result of an unsuccessful nuclear test, a small nuclear device or a non-nuclear explosion, said a US official. Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin struck a more cautious note and made no mention of sanctions. China's UN ambassador Wang Guangya said the council should react "firmly, constructively (but) prudently with regard to this challenge". "We condemn the test. We demand that they return to the regime on non-proliferation and to the six party talks. I think the North Koreans will be facing a very serious attitude on the part of the Security Council and the entire international community," he said.
President Bush said he spoke by phone to the leaders of China, South Korea, Japan and Russia - the other parties involved in stalled, six-party talks with North Korea on its nuclear programme. While stressing his commitment to diplomacy, Mr Bush said he had told South Korea and Japan that "the United States will meet the full range of our deterrent and security commitments" in the Asia-Pacific region.
Announcing North Korea's latest act of defiance, the official Korean Central News Agency said there was no leak or danger from its test, which South Korean officials believe may have been carried out at Hwaderi near Gilju in the northeast, close to the border with China.
The test came just as Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe arrived for a visit to Seoul and has ratcheted up tensions in the region. Reaction there was swift. South Korea put its military on a heightened state of alert, and a spokesman for president Roh Moo Hyun said his country would respond sternly to the test. Japan's foreign minister Taro Aso said Tokyo would back a fresh UN resolution.