SINGAPORE: South Korea on Tuesday maintained that there were "no signs" that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was preparing to carry out "additional" nuclear-weapon tests.

Japan pledged to refrain from exercising the option of making, testing and deploying nuclear weapons, despite neighbouring North Korea's declaration that it had successfully carried out its first test of the atom bomb on Monday.

The significant comment by South Korea, which seeks reunification with the DPRK, came amid speculation that the DPRK was planning to conduct follow-up nuclear tests.

The U.S. and the DPRK's neighbours continued to assess the extent of its success in Monday's detonation. South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said they believed that the DPRK had "actually conducted a nuclear test."

There was no authoritative word from Pyongyang on talks.

A DPRK official in Beijing was quoted as saying his country would be willing to engage the U.S. in direct talks if it were to offer North Korea some security guarantees.

A Japanese official, Tomohiko Taniguchi, told The Hindu over telephone from Tokyo that his country was still wedded to the "policy principle" of three-no's in the nuclear domain.

There was "absolutely no attempt within the Government to abandon this time-honoured policy": no manufacture and possession of nuclear weapons by Tokyo and no deployment of such devices on the Japanese territory.

No conformation: U.S.

AFP reports:

The White House said on Tuesday it did not have confirmation on whether North Korea actually tested a nuclear bomb — as Pyongyang announced it had — and said the U.S. may never get a conclusive answer.

``This may take some time; it's a complex undertaking,'' White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters. ``There is a remote possibility that we'll never be able to determine fully.''

Mr. Snow told reporters ``unfortunately I cannot give you anything'' about the nature of the operation or the strength of the test.

But he added: ``It does not change our view that this is an act of provocation, nor does it change the view, more importantly, of our partners in the neighbourhood, who view it much the same way.''

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