SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A North Korean official warned that the Communist state could test-fire a nuclear missile unless the U.S. acts to resolve its standoff with Pyongyang, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday.

"We hope the situation will be resolved before an unfortunate incident of us firing a nuclear missile comes," the unnamed official said Monday, according to a Yonhap report from Beijing. "That depends on how the U.S. will act."

Even if the North is confirmed to have a functioning atomic bomb, most experts don't believe it has a design small and light enough to place on a missile. Their long-range missile capability also remains in question, after a test rocket in July apparently fizzled out shortly after blast-off.

Meanwhile, a pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan said international nuclear disarmament arms talks will not resume unless the U.S. changes its stance toward the North Korean government.

"No diplomatic offensive or military threats are likely to change the trend unless the U.S. withdraws hostility and pressure," said a Pyongyang-datelined story the Choson Sinbo newspaper. The newspaper is connected to a society of ethnic North Koreans in Japan linked to the Pyongyang government.

"The six-way talks are deadlocked due to the U.S. pressure and there is no prospect for the resumption of talks," the newspaper said. "North Korea's development of nuclear weapons was an inevitable choice to counter the U.S. military threats."

However, the North Korean official said the country was seeking direct talks with the U.S.

"The nuclear test is an expression of our intention to face the United States across the negotiating table," the official said.

Yonhap didn't say how or where it contacted the official, who requested anonymity.

The official also dismissed moves at the UN Security Council to sanction the impoverished country over its reported nuclear test.

"We have lost enough. Sanctions can never be a solution," the official said. "We still have a willingness to give up nuclear weapons and return to six-party talks as well. It's possible whenever the U.S. takes corresponding measures."

The official didn't elaborate on what the corresponding measures would be. But one of them is believed to be a long-standing North Korean demand that Washington lift financial restrictions imposed for its alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.

North Korea has cited the financial issue in boycotting nuclear disarmament talks with China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. The talks last convened in November.

Washington has said the issue is unrelated to the nuclear talks, urging the North to return to the dialogue table without conditions.

Pyongyang declared Monday that it successfully tested a nuclear bomb. The North Korean official said the test "is a result of the U.S. recklessly threatening a small and weak country."

The Bush administration has labelled North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" along with Iran and the since-deposed Saddam Hussein administration in Iraq. But unlike Iraq, Bush insists the United States has no intention of invading North Korea.

The test strained the North's relations with its main ally China, with Beijing swiftly denouncing Pyongyang, although it has also said that now is not the time for sanctions, much less military action.

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Are any of u guys worried about the nuclear threat of North Korea??

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