World powers were set to adopt a joint statement yesterday urging North Korea to abandon plans to test a nuclear device, which Japan said could happen as early as this weekend.
The expected UN Security Council text, which does not explicitly threaten sanctions, would be weaker than the US and Japan had requested amid disagreement over how to rein in the communist state.
As the man at the center of the storm -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il -- visited army commanders, frantic diplomacy intensified to dissuade his regime from carrying out its plan.
North Korean official media reported that during Kim's visit -- it did not specify when -- he was greeted with cheers and shouts of "Let's fight at the cost of our lives for the respected Supreme Commander Comrade Kim Jong-il!"
Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi warned that Pyongyang's resolve to conduct its first atom bomb test -- a plan it announced on Tuesday -- should not be underestimated.
"We discussed the possibility that the test would occur this weekend," he said after talks in Washington with US Deputy National Security Adviser Jack Crouch.
"They will probably go ahead and do it as they had that tone in their declaration. It possibly means they are already very prepared," he added.
In Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would be seeking common ground with his counterparts from China and South Korea during his first foreign trip starting tomorrow.
"It's important to share the same understanding of the situation between Japan and China, and also between Japan and South Korea, during the summits," Abe said. "We need to send messages together to stop the North before they make such a reckless action."
Abe is known for his hardline stance on North Korea, while China and South Korea have favored a more conciliatory approach.
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon -- almost certain to be confirmed as next UN chief in a vote on Monday -- would be willing to visit North Korea to negotiate an end to its nuclear program, foreign ministry officials in Seoul said.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Ban said that, "if necessary, I will take my own initiatives to visit both North and South Korea and I will try to engage [Pyongyang] myself."
Both the US and South Korea have warned they cannot tolerate a nuclear-armed North, Russia has held direct talks with the regime while China, Pyongyang's main ally, has urged the country to show restraint.
In New York, Japan's Kenzo Oshima, who chairs the Security Council this month, said experts had made "good progress" in efforts to fine-tune a draft statement.
"Most likely we will have something adopted [Friday]," he added.
Japan and the US had pushed for inclusion of a threat to resort to mandatory sanctions, including an arms embargo and other trade and financial sanctions under Chapter 7 of the UN charter.
Asked whether the latest version of the text would refer to Chapter 7, Oshima replied: "I do not think at this stage it is something all members can agree."
China and Russia are known to be opposed to biting sanctions.
The latest UN text would "urge the DPRK [North Korea] not to undertake such a test and to refrain from any action that might aggravate tension."
It would call for it "to return immediately to the six-party talks without precondition and work toward the expeditious implementation" of its pledge in last September to abandon its nuclear weapons program in exchange for energy and security benefits.
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