North Korea 'to carry out three or four more N-tests'

NORTH Korea is likely to conduct three or four further nuclear bomb tests, according to intelligence collected by several countries, a South Korean MP said yesterday.

Chung Hyung-keun, a member of the South Korean parliament's intelligence committee said there were signs indicating the North was preparing for a second test at a site in Kilju, the same area as the 9 October test.

His warning came as the United States and China both sought to placate the communist state, with Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, saying "we want to leave open the path of negotiations", and a Chinese envoy visiting the dictator Kim Il-Jong and presenting him with a gift.

Mr Chung said 30 to 40 people had been seen in the area of last week's test, which was carried out in a pit dug horizontally into a hill. "Checking indications from intelligence agencies of different countries, it is certain the North will conduct three or four additional nuclear tests in the future," he said.

The trip to North Korea by Tang Jiaxuan was the highest-level Chinese visit to its isolated ally since the test.

Liu Jianchao, of the Chinese foreign ministry, said Mr Kim and the diplomat had "in-depth discussions" about the nuclear dispute. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Mr Tang had given Mr Kim a gift but did not say what it was.

Mr Liu told a regular news briefing: "This is a very significant visit against the backdrop of major changes on the Korean Peninsula. We hope China's diplomatic efforts ... will bear fruit."

Ms Rice, currently touring the region, told a news conference in Seoul that the US hoped talks could resolve the crisis. "We want to leave open the path of negotiations. We don't want the crisis to escalate," she said.

"I hope [China] has been successful in saying to North Korea that there is really only one path, which is denuclearisation and dismantlement of its programmes."