China, Japan and S Korea warn N Korea over n-tests

China, Japan and South Korea have warned they will not accept new nuclear tests by North Korea, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak said on Sunday.

“Our three countries have agreed that we will not accept further nuclear tests or further provocations from North Korea,” Lee said after a tripartite meeting in Beijing.

Lee met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda for a one-day summit, with the North Korea’s nuclear and rocket programs topping the summit agenda.

Wen said the three countries had the pressing task of calming tensions on the Korean peninsula and returning to dialogue.

The summit came a month after North Korea unsuccessfully launched a long-range rocket. The rocket fell soon after the takeoff but the liftoff drew international condemnation as it broke a UN ban adopted over concerns that North Korea could use these launches to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

Some media reports have said North Korea is preparing for a third underground nuclear test. Satellite images have showed the reclusive communist regime is digging a new tunnel in the Punggye-ri, where it conducted two previous nuclear tests, first in 2006 and in 2009.