The government has issued a statement condemning North Korea for its second nuclear test. In it, the government called the test a serious challenge to peace on the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia and the rest of the world.

Following an emergency meeting of the National Security Council led by President Lee Myung-bak, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan told a news conference that Monday’s nuclear test undermined the 1991 Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as well as agreements made under the six-party framework.

The spokesman said the North’s move clearly violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which bans all nuclear tests by North Korea.

He went on to say that the government will work closely with the other members of the six-party talks --- the United States, Japan, China and Russia --- and the rest of the international community to ensure the U.N. Security Council pursues proper countermeasures.

He called on Pyongyang to act as a responsible member of the international community by giving up all its nuclear weapons and programs and immediately returning to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Meanwhile, during the NSC meeting, President Lee Myung-bak expressed great disappointment with the North’s move and ordered a heightened level of preparedness to ease the public’s worries.