U.S. "not to accept a nuclear North Korea": official

The United States will not accept "a nuclear North Korea," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said on Wednesday.

"We are not going to accept a nuclear North Korea. If they think that by exploding a weapon, we will come to terms with it, we won't," said Hill, chief U.S. negotiator in six-party talks on nuclear issues on the Korean peninsular.

"If they think that firing off a weapon will somehow make them a part of some sort of nuclear club, they should think again," he added.

Washington has passed a message of "deep concern" over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s announcement to have nuclear test through diplomatic channels at the United Nations in New York, Hill told reporters after an appearance at the Johns Hopkins University's school of international studies.

The senior U.S. diplomat declined to discuss policy options, but he said top U.S. diplomats are working hard with partners in Asia to convince the DPRK "that this would be a bad mistake."

The DPRK announced on Tuesday that it "will in the future conduct a nuclear test under conditions where safety is firmly guaranteed."

In response, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday that a nuclear test by the DPRK would be a "very provocative" act.

Tom Casey, deputy State Department spokesman, said on Wednesday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill reached out to their diplomatic counterparts in Asia and Europe to send "a strong and unified signal ... that these kinds of threats are certainly not acceptable."

Source: Xinhua