Japan Warns North Korea on Nuclear Tests

A South Korean woman passes by displays of North Korea's mock Scud-B missile, right rear, and other South Korean missiles at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006. North Korea's neighbors on Saturday applauded a U.N. Security Council statement warning the country not to test its first nuclear weapon, with South Korea backing the move and Japan saying it will push for punitive measures if Pyongyang doesn't heed international opinion. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man) (Lee Jin-man - AP)

Japan's Foreign Ministry said it was prepared to push for punitive measures at the United Nations if the North goes ahead with the test.

"If North Korea conducts a nuclear weapons test despite the concerns expressed by international society, the Security Council must adopt a resolution outlining severely punitive measures," the ministry said.

A top Japanese ruling party official warned of further sanctions if North Korea conducts a nuclear test. Tokyo began stepping up trade restrictions on North Korea in July after it test-fired seven missiles, including a long-range rocket, into the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

"We have already imposed financial measures ... but we may have to go further, like stopping imports and exports (from North Korea)" if it conducts a nuclear test, Shoichi Nakagawa, the Liberal Democratic Party's policy chief, said on public broadcaster NHK.

The U.N. statement adopted Friday expressed "deep concern" over North Korea's announcement Tuesday that it is planning a test.

The council acted amid speculation that a nuclear test could come on Sunday, the anniversary of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's appointment as head of the Korean Workers' Party in 1997.

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi told Japan's TV Asahi: "Based on the development so far, it would be best to view that a test is possible this weekend."

The U.N. statement also urged North Korea to return to six-nation negotiations aimed at persuading the country to abandon its nuclear ambitions in exchange for security guarantees and badly needed economic aid.

Those talks, which involve the United States, China, Japan, Russia and North and South Korea, have been stalled since late last year, when North Korea boycotted the negotiations in response to American economic sanctions.

A North Korea expert in China, the North's closest ally, said only the removal of the sanctions could dissuade the North.

"North Korea has already made a decision to carry out a test," said Li Dunqiu of China's State Council Development Research Center, a Cabinet-level think tank. But "if the U.S. removes sanctions ... then tensions can be eased. Otherwise launching a nuclear test is unavoidable for North Korea."

The United States imposed economic restrictions on North Korea last year to punish it for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.

North Korea said Tuesday it decided to act in the face of what it claimed was "the U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war," but gave no date for the test. Washington has repeatedly said it has no intention of invading North Korea.