New peace plan was pre-empted by North Korean test

Washington was just hours away from approving a new proposal to North Korea when the communist regime announced it had conducted a nuclear test, pre-empting the US push to resolve a nearly year-old deadlock at international arms talks, South Korea’s nuclear envoy said today.

Chun Yung-woo said the US had been ready on Monday to sign off “at the highest levels” on a joint proposal with South Korea in an effort to persuade the North to return to the nuclear negotiations. But while it was still late Sunday in Washington, the North announced its first-ever nuclear test.