Japan, S. Korea seek swift UNSC action on N. Korean nuclear test+

HANOI, May 25 Kyodo - Japan and South Korea on Monday called for immediate deliberations by the U.N. Security Council in response to North Korea's announcement that it has conducted a second nuclear test, while Japan and four Central European nations condemned the North's latest action.

''The nuclear test violates a U.N. Security Council resolution. (We) strongly
denounce and protest against it,'' Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone
told reporters after meeting with South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade
Minister Yu Myung Hwan on the sidelines of a two-day Asia-Europe foreign
ministerial conference through Tuesday.
Nakasone and his counterparts from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and
Slovakia ''condemned the second nuclear test proclaimed by North Korea,'' and
demanded that the North ''give up all nuclear weapon related activities as it
committed within the six-party talks,'' the five foreign ministers said in a
joint press statement issued Monday after a meeting in Hanoi.
The ministers agreed that North Korea's action ''constitutes a grave challenge
to the NPT (the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and clearly violates the
relevant UNSC resolutions, in particular the UNSC Resolution 1718,'' which bans
any ballistic missile and nuclear activity by Pyongyang, according to the
statement.
Japan and the four European nations also ''emphasized the importance of
addressing the human rights situation (in North Korea) including the abduction
issues,'' the statement said, referring to the past abductions of Japanese
nationals by the North.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told Yu during their meeting in
Hanoi that China wants a ''calm and cool-headed'' approach on North Korea's
nuclear test, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
Yang told Yu that China considers denuclearization of North Korea a top
priority but a ''calm and cool-headed'' approach is needed in addressing issues
surrounding the North Korean nuclear test.
''Yang said that maintaining peace and stability in the region is important,''
Yonhap quoted South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae Young as saying.
The six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea have been stalled since
December over ways to verify Pyongyang's nuclear activities. The multilateral
disarmament framework involves the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the
United States.