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North Korea might start nuclear tests next month, Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the state duma committee for international affairs, told reporters on the eve of the duma’s planned mission to North Korea. “There are reasons to believe that this will happen,” Kosachev said, noting that Korea’s nuclear plans will be high on the agenda.
Earlier, North Korea had pulled out of the six-way talks on its nuclear program. In February, North Korea said it had nuclear potential. Kosachev expressed hope that the Russian delegates would persuade North Korea to return to the negotiation table. The United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan are involved in the talks.
Dialog between Seoul and Pyongyang will also be discussed during the visit, Kosachev said. Another important item on the agenda will be trade and economic relations between North Korea and Russia. Russian-Korean trade currently stands slightly above $140 million, while Russia’s trade with South Korea totaled $4 billion.
In other developments, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice informed North Korea that the United States was able to defend itself and its allies against nuclear and missile threats, Associated Press reported. "I don't think there should be any doubt about our ability to deter whatever the North Koreans are up to," she was quoted as saying.
North Korea launched a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan on Sunday.
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RUSSIA IN FACTS
