US President George W. Bush has branded North Korea's nuclear test "a threat to international peace and security" and called for an immediate response by the UN Security Council. In a hastily arranged brief public statement, Bush declined to confirm Pyongyang's claim to have carried out such a test but said that he had spoken to the leaders of China, South Korea, Russia and Japan about the response.
"All of us agreed that the proclaimed actions taken by North Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate response by the United Nations Security Council," said the US president.
"Such a claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The United States condemns this provocative act," he said.
