SOUTH KOREA WARNS NORTH KOREA OVER NUCLEAR TEST

Interesting that the "Soft South" is giving a warning to North Korea. Wonder if the South Korea has some more information as to the seriousness of these tests? Or if they are receiving more pressure from the Bush administration? I assume Roh's administration wouldn't give into pressure at this point, but who knows what pressure points Bush's team is pushing.

In a rare harsh tone, South Korea on Monday warned North Korea against conducting a nuclear test, and the communist state said it would consider any U.N. sanctions a "declaration of war."

The South Korean warning come amid fears the isolated state is trying to harvest plutonium for more weapons after it apparently shut down a nuclear reactor and that it might be preparing for its first nuclear test.

Recent revelations have prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to say that although Washington had no timeline for taking North Korea to the United Nations, it was willing to go to the Security Council. Such a move could eventually lead to economic sanctions on the North.

"Nuclear weapons can never guarantee North Korea's security and will only bring about and worsen the isolation of its politics and economy," South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said in Seoul during a speech at a forum, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. (full article)