UN Security Council Meets On North Korean Nuclear Test

联合国安理会将就北韩核试验开会

North Korea says it set off an underground nuclear explosion today (Monday), a powerful blast that drew immediate, worldwide condemnation.

The U.N. Security Council is meeting in New York to discuss the situation. President Bush says the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea all agree the Council should take decisive action.

International monitors confirmed that a seismic tremor Monday morning in northeast North Korea suggested a nuclear blast. Estimates of the blast's size varied, with South Korea saying it had an explosive force of less than one thousand tons of T.N.T. Russian officials said it may have been as much as 15 thousand tons of T.N.T. -- about the same size as the atomic bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.

South Korean intelligence officials said there are indications the North may be preparing another test.

北韩宣布星期一进行了一次地下核爆炸，世界很多国家立即纷纷谴责这次强烈爆炸。

联合国安理会在纽约开会讨论有关局势。布什总统说，美国、中国、俄罗斯、日本和韩国一致认为安理会应当采取果断措施。

国际监测机构证实星期一早上监测到来自北韩东北部的震波，表明很可能是核爆炸。对爆炸规模的估计各方有出入。韩国说，爆炸力量小于1千吨TNT炸药的威力。俄罗斯官员说，北韩试爆的威力可能会相当于1万5千吨TNT炸药，其爆炸力约等于美国1945年在日本广岛投下的原子弹的威力。

韩国情报官员说，有迹象显示北韩有可能在准备再次进行核试验。