In a brief public statement, Bush said he had discussed the way forward with the leaders of China, South Korea, Russia and Japan -- Washington's partners in six-party talks with North Korea -- and found broad agreement.

"We reaffirmed our commitment to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. And 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," he said.

Bush said that he remained "committed to diplomacy" but also stressed that the United States "will continue to protect ourselves and our interests" and will follow through on pledges to protect allies in the region.

He also warned Pyongyang that Washington would view any transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to other countries or non-state entities -- like terrorist groups -- as "a grave threat" to US security.

"We would hold North Korea fully accountable of the consequences of such action," he said, renewing charges that the Stalinist regime has transferred missile technology to Syria and Iran.

US officials pushed the Security Council to support possible sanctions including international inspection of all cargo to and from North Korea, new financial curbs targeting Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, and restrictions on exports of goods with military uses and sales of luxury items.

"Once again North Korea has defied the will of the international community, and the international community will respond," the US president told reporters at the White House.

But even as Washington pushed for sanctions, White House spokesman Tony Snow warned that it might take "a couple of days" -- or as little as a few hours -- to be sure whether or not North Korea actually tested a nuclear device.

He also suggested that the US approach would not change even if the claim were debunked, telling reporters: "I'm not aware that there is a specific menu for real test/fake test."

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said overnight that Pyongyang had conducted its first nuclear weapon test Monday, calling it a "historic event."

The agency said the test was carried out safely and successfully.

"We're working to confirm North Korea's claim. Such a claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The United States condemns this provocative act," said Bush.

Snow rejected calls for direct talks between the United States and North Korea, saying Washington would stick with six-party negotiations that also group North and South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.

But North Korea has boycotted those negotiations since November 2005.

As opposition Democrats hammered the Bush administration's North Korea policy, seeking an edge in November 7 legislative elections, senior Bush foreign policy aides sought to line up global support.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with her counterparts from China, Russia, Japan and South Korea, as well as the foreign ministers of Australia and New Zealand -- key partners in the Proliferation Security Initiative launched by Washington after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"Threats will not lead to a brighter future for the North Korean people, nor weaken the resolve of the United States and our allies to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," said Bush.

Pyongyang announced October 3 that it would test nuclear weapons in response to what it described as US military threats and sanctions, jangling nerves worldwide just three months after North Korea test-fired long-range missiles.

As part of an agreement reached in the six-party talks on September 19, 2005, the United States had made security guarantees to North Korea in exchange for Pyongyang agreeing to renounce its nuclear weapons program.

But Pyongyang said the removal of US sanctions imposed for alleged money laundering and counterfeiting of US currency was the condition for its return to the negotiating table.

North Korea Nuclear Test Now Weapon In US Election Campaign
Washington (AFP) Oct 9 - The stunning announcement that North Korea may have detonated a nuclear weapon immediately became US political campaign fodder Monday, a month ahead of legislative elections. All year long, Democrats and Republicans have tried to use the issue of domestic security and and global security threats to gain the upper hand ahead of the high-stakes November 7 balloting, with "axis of evil" nation North Korea a top concern.

Republicans, fighting to retain control of Congress, used the North Korean bomb test to press the point that the country is safer in their hands, while Democrats are hoping that anxiety over Iraq -- and now possibly newly nuclear North Korea -- convinces voters to give them control of the legislature.

Democrats immediately charged that the reported North Korean nuclear tests were proof that Republicans had mismanaged US foreign policy by failing to engage with Pyongyang. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid charged that US President George W. Bush had dropped the ball, and mismanaged US international security priorities.

"Distracted by Iraq and paralyzed by internal divisions, the Bush administration has for several years been in a state of denial about the growing challenge of North Korea, and has too often tried to downplay the issue or change the subject," Reid said in a statement Monday.

"It is time for the Bush administration to finally change course from a failed North Korea policy," said Reid, the Senate's leading Democrat, slamming Washington's North Korea policy as "reckless and counterproductive."

"The first step toward ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program must be to ensure that this alleged first nuclear test is also the last," he continued, calling Bush to appoint a senior official to conduct a full review of US North Korea policy, and develop recommendations to change course.

Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner dismissed such calls for a change of course, and labeled North Korea's claims a provocation that Washington must answer with firmness.

"The United States cannot afford to stand idly by as rogue regimes flout international treaties and threaten America and our allies," he said.

He added that more than ever, the Bush administration's tough stance is exactly the appropriate approach in dealing with Pyongyang.

"It is critical that we support President Bush and our diplomats as they work with other members of the international community to demand North Korea's immediate disarmament," he said.

"We cannot tolerate nuclear weaponry in the hands of rogue regimes or terrorist organizations that threaten the international community," the Republican lawmaker said.

"This reckless move by North Korea, coupled with their attempted missile test in early July, highlights the importance of a US missile defense shield capable of protecting America against madmen with weapons of mass destruction," Boehner continued.

"It is time for Democrats to recognize the need for missile defense technologies and abandon their long-standing policy of voting against missile defense programs," he said.

Pundits said that in the end, either side could benefit politically from the crisis. Republicans would be sure to gin up public concern that Democrats are not experienced or tough enough in matters of international security to appropriately respond to challeneges such as those posed by North Korea.

Democrats would counter, however, that after more than a decade of Republican control of the House of Representatives and six years of Republican rule in the White House, Americans are less safe than ever.

One Democrat who did not fully succeed in making the security argument convincingly was US presidential candidate Senator John Kerry, who, during the 2004 election, "argued that Bush was asleep at the switch and diverting attention from the really important things with Iraq and so forth," said John Mueller, a political science professor at Ohio State University.

On the other hand, Mueller said the issue of North Korea dovetails with the oft-heard criticism voiced by Democrats that in focusing on Iraq, the Republican administration neglected festering security threats in North Korea, Afghanistan and elsehwere around the globe.

"It fits into a pattern of the administration doesn't seem to be doing informed foreign policy," Mueller said.

"Democrats can say this took place under George W. Bush's watch, and that Iraq was diverting attention from the really important things," he said.

earlier related report
US trying to decipher nature of North Korea test
Washington (AFP) Oct 9 - The United States may not know for "a couple of days" whether North Korea truly tested a nuclear device as it claims, White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters Monday.

"It could be anything from late this afternoon to another day or two," he said hours after US President George W. Bush denounced Pyongyang over the announcement that it carried out such a test. "It may take a while."

Snow also suggested that Washington's push for the UN Security Council to punish the Stalinist regime would not change even if the test is found not to have been nuclear.

"I'm not aware that there is a specific menu for real test/fake test," he said. "Whatever happened, it clearly was a provocative act."

"We still don't find it acceptable to have a nuclear Korean peninsula and we are still working diplomatically to try to make sure it doesn't happen."

Snow declined to say how the United States was trying determine whether the Stalinist regime had tested an atomic device, citing the need to protect US intelligence "sources and methods."

But he said that the US government would make its conclusions public.

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