US warns North Korea against further nuclear test

WASHINGTON: The White House has warned North Korea about "damaging consequences" if it went ahead with another nuclear test as being reported in the media.

"We have warned North Korea about the damaging consequences, or at least I should say, the further isolation that's caused by their failure to live up to their international obligations," the White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday.

"Each time we see one of these nuclear tests, it further isolates the country of North Korea, which has a terrible impact on the people of North Korea. It doesn't serve their interests," he said.

"We encourage the North Koreans to live up to their international obligations, abandon their nuclear program, and work with the rest of the international community to become a responsible member of the international community," Earnest said.

Earlier in the day the US asked North Korea to refrain from further provocative actions.

"The United States calls on the DPRK (Democratic People Republic of Korea) to refrain from additional provocative actions that would violate its international obligations and run counter to its commitments," the State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, told reporters at her daily news conference.

Referring to relevant UN Security Council resolutions, she said:

"In the UN Security Council Resolution 2087, the council expressed its determination to take significant action in the event of a nuclear test.

North Korea is not going to achieve anything in terms of the health, wealth or safety future of its own people by these kinds of continued provocative actions."

"It's just going to lead to more isolation," Nuland added.