BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Despite strenuous international efforts to rein in nuclear proliferation, the year 2006 witnessed an underground nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic ofKorea (DPRK), and a defiance by Iran toward a UN deadline to halt its uranium enrichment.

    While these two states drew much criticism for running contrary to nuclear non-proliferation, the "double standards" on nuclear issues by some Western countries also fueled worries among the international community over the spread of weapons of mass destruction.     

    DPRK CONDUCTS NUCLEAR TEST

    At the fourth round of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula's nuclear issue in September 2005, the DPRK agreed to abandon all of its nuclear programs, upon U.S. affirmation that it had no intention of attacking or invading the Asian state.

    On Oct. 9, 2006, however, the DPRK announced it had conducted asuccessful underground nuclear test, thus frustrating international efforts aimed at preventing the spreading of nuclear weapons.

    Although doubts lingered over the claimed nuclear test, as the seismic readings were shy of a typical nuclear explosion, intelligence officials later confirmed the underground explosion, and the UN Security Council responded swiftly by unanimously adopting a resolution to impose sanctions.

    Six nations -- China, the DPRK, the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan -- have made strenuous efforts to resolve the Korean Peninsula's nuclear issue. But the talks were stalled after the first phase of the fifth round ended last November, following financial punishment by the U.S. against Pyongyang.

    In October last year, Washington imposed financial restrictionson the DPRK, accusing its companies of involvement in counterfeiting, money laundering and financing weapons proliferation.

    To revive the stalled six-party talks, chief negotiators of China, the DPRK and the United States held bilateral and trilateral discussions in Beijing last week, but set no specific date for resuming the talks.

    "The best way for them to get out of sanctions is to get out of nuclear programs," said the U.S. chief negotiator, Christopher Hill, in Beijing.

    "Unless they denuclearize, nothing is going to be possible," he added.

    The DPRK, however, maintains that the prerequisite for returning to the six-party talks was that "the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled."

    The DPRK's nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan said on Nov. 30 that Pyongyang "cannot unilaterally abandon" its nuclear weapon program.