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A North Korean official told a visiting Japanese academic in Pyongyang that a nuclear test was an "indispensable" step toward proving the nation's military capabilities to the world, a media report said on Tuesday.
He also suggested his government might conduct one soon.
The report, which appeared in the Washington Post, is attributed to the head of the Japanese delegation.
Reports that North Korea is considering a nuclear test came as Pyongyang appeared to hint late on Monday that it is willing to return, under certain conditions, to six-party negotiations aimed at its nuclear disarmament.
But the statement to the Japanese delegation amounted to the first public statement by a North Korean official since intelligence reports circulated about the possibility.
Yasuhiko Yoshida, a former proliferation expert at the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview that he held two discussions on May 3 with North Korean officials.
He said the key comment on the test came during the second discussion -- a previously unarranged phone call placed by the Institute of Disarmament and Peace's deputy director, Pak Hyon Jae.
According to Yoshida, Pak said a North Korean nuclear "test is indispensable," adding, "You'll find that out soon."