NKorea Threatens Nuke Test If UN Doesn't Apologize

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http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=7456441

NKorea Threatens Nuke Test If UN Doesn't Apologize

NKorea threatens nuclear test if UN doesn't apologize for condemning rocket

launch

By JAE-SOON CHANG Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea April 29, 2009 (AP)

North Korea warned Wednesday it will fire an intercontinental ballistic missile

— or even carry out another nuclear test — unless the U.N. apologizes for

condemning the regime's April 5 rocket launch.

By flaunting its rogue nuclear and missile programs, Pyongyang has raised the

stakes in the escalating diplomatic tit for tat with the outside world. North

Korea also said it would start generating nuclear fuel — an indication the

regime will begin enriching uranium, another material used to make an atomic

bomb.

North Korea is known for its use of brinksmanship and harsh rhetoric to force

the West to react, but the threat of a nuclear test is significant.

Pyongyang conducted its first atomic test in 2006, and is thought to have enough

plutonium to make at least half a dozen nuclear bombs. There are no indications,

however, that scientists in the North have mastered the technology needed to

make a nuclear warhead small enough to fit onto a missile.