Pyongyang all set to test: US

The US warned the International Atomic Energy Agency that North Korea has been preparing to carry out an underground nuclear test since March and could go ahead in June, Kyodo news agency said on Saturday.

The report quoted diplomatic sources in Vienna, who said the information was obtained by satellite photos and from within North Korea. They said Pyongyang was preparing to test a small-scale plutonium device.

Meanwhile, North Korea today called US President George W. Bush a 8216;8216;hooligan8217;8217; and said it expected no solution to the standoff over its nuclear programme during the Bush administration.

8216;8216;Bush is a hooligan bereft of any personality as a human being8230;And a philistine whom we can never deal with,8217;8217; said North Korea8217;s Foreign Ministry spokesman, according the official Korean Central News Agency. North Korea does not expect any progress in relations with the US during Bush8217;s term, the unnamed spokesman said, calling the US President a 8220;world dictator8221;.