S.Korea gravely concerned at North's test threat

North Korea announced on Tuesday it planned to carry out its first nuclear test, saying its hand had been forced by a U.S. "threat of nuclear war and sanctions."

"This government reaffirms the position that North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons will never be allowed," South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho told reporters.

He said his government was gravely concerned by North Korea's statement and urged Pyongyang to scrap its plans, which would ratchet up tensions even further on the Cold War's last frontier.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said North Korea would suffer universal condemnation and weaken its own security if it carried out its threat.

The state's relations with the outside world have become increasingly tense since it test-fired missiles in July.

Although it said it had been forced into its position by "the U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure," it pledged never to use nuclear weapons first and to do everything possible to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons altogether.