Pyongyang seeks denuclearisation dialogue: Source

Beijing, Oct 9: North Korea carried out a nuclear test today to allay doubts about its strength and deter US threats of regime change, but still wants talks to rid the Korean peninsula of atomic weapons, a source close to the regime said.

Pyongyang announced today it had safely and successfully carried out an underground nuclear test, defying a warning from the U.N.

Security Council and drawing international condemnation.

The source -- who told Reuters yesterday that Pyongyang might bring the test forward after China's UN envoy riled its generals by saying ''no one is going to protect'' bad behaviour -- defended the test as necessary, citing North Korean views.

''It's for self-defence. The United States wants regime change,'' the source, who requested anonymity, told Reuters, noting that US President George W. Bush had labelled North Korea part of an ''axis of evil'' along with Iran and Iraq in 2002.

''Now, they can't underestimate North Korea or say North Korea is bluffing,'' the source said.

The source said North Korea had detonated a neutron bomb, designed to release larger amounts of deadly radiation than other nuclear weapons. There was no immediate independent confirmation that the device was a neutron bomb.

The same source had said on Friday that the test would be conducted about 2,000 metres inside an abandoned coal mine in northern North Korea near the border with China.

Days before the test, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il issued instructions that it should ''not excessively rock'' Mount Paektu, a peak many Koreans consider sacred, the source had said.

Paektu is known as Mount Changbai, or ''Long White'', in Chinese.

The US envoy on North Korea, Christopher Hill, said last week Washington could not live with a nuclear-armed North Korea. But the source said Pyongyang hoped the test would serve as a wake-up call to the urgent need to denuclearise the region.

''The aim of the test is to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, not to trigger war or an arms race,'' the source said, citing North Korean officials. Pyongyang has long accused US forces of deploying nuclear arms in the region.

''The United States is welcome to help clear away North Korea's nuclear weapons,'' the source said, adding that Pyongyang sought normalisation with Washington in accordance with the will of Kim's late father, Kim Il-sung.

The source urged the United States to lift financial sanctions and respect North Korea's sovereign right to peaceful use of nuclear weapons. Washington froze a Pyongyang bank account in Macau as part of a crackdown on suspected North Korean counterfeiting, money-laundering and drug-trafficking.

He faulted Washington for failing to live up to its promise to provide North Korea with two light-water nuclear reactors as part of a previous agreement.

''Eight years have gone by. All that they have done is dig a few holes in the ground,'' the source said.

The test came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity to defuse the crisis. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flew to Seoul from Beijing today and a special South Korean envoy arrived in the Chinese capital ahead of a visit there by President Roh Moo-hyun.

China's relations with North Korea were long characterised as being ''as close as lips and teeth'' after they fought side-by-side during the 1950-53 Korean War. China is a major aid donor but bilateral ties soured in recent months with Pyongyang complaining that Beijing was failing to champion its interests.

Yesterday, Abe said that if North Korea made good its threat to test, the United Nations would discuss invoking Chapter 7 of its Charter, which could lay the groundwork for military force.

Asked to comment on Abe's remark, the source said: ''Does it (Japan) dare attack? It'll be suicide.''

Reuters