Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has declined to confirm reports that North Korea notified Russia of its nuclear test.

“As far as I know, we had no notice that an explosion was to be carried out,” he told a media briefing in Seoul today. “We received our information by technical means,” he was quoted by Interfax as saying.

“I hope there won’t be a second explosion because it would escalate the situation, and there shouldn’t be one, that’s the signal that the UN Security Council send,” Fradkov stressed.

“We wish the DPRK to return to the six-party talks and nonproliferation regime,” he added. “These issues must be resolved peacefully by negotiation, by motivating the North Koreans to find a way out of the prevailing situation.”

When asked by South Korean mass media, if he knew anything about plans for a second North Korean nuclear test, Fradkov replied “the questions are not very precise and are wrongly addressed,” Itar-Tass adds.

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