A South Korean newspaper reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il expressed regret to a Chinese delegation about his country’s nuclear weapons test and said Pyongyang was willing to return to international talks if Washington abandons is campaign to Isolate the country, the Associated Press reported Friday.

United States laboratories working in conjunction with Russian officials have confirmed from air samples containing radioactive debris that North Korea’s October 9th test of a small nuclear device was indeed authentic, putting an end to any lingering doubts that the hermetic Southeast Asian nation has the capability to build nuclear weapons.

Because of its low-yield, varying seismographic measurements, and a total absence of any kind of radioactive leakage detected in neighbouring nations, western experts are questioning whether the nuclear test North Korea proudly declared on Monday was the what the nation’s scientists actually hoped for, international media are reporting.