North Korea's decision on whether to carry out a second nuclear test will depend on how it is treated by the U.S., Japan's Kyodo News reported, citing the communist state's second-highest ranking official.
"The issue of future nuclear tests is linked to U.S. policy toward our country,'' Kyodo cited Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, as saying in an interview in Pyongyang. "If the United States continues to take a hostile attitude and apply pressure on us in various forms, we will have no choice but to take physical steps to deal with that.''
The government in Pyongyang also considers U.S. policy toward North Korea as the main factor influencing whether it returns to stalled six-nation talks on its nuclear program, Kyodo cited Kim as saying.
North Korea said on Oct. 9 it detonated its first nuclear bomb, hours after the Japanese and Chinese governments joined the United Nations Security Council in warning the communist country against proceeding with the test. U.S. officials haven't verified the test.