Washington, OCT 10, SPA -- Bill Richardson, a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary in the Clinton administration who has held negotiations with North Korea, is urging diplomacy in dealing with the announcement by Pyongyang that it had conducted an underground nuclear test. Richardson, who said he considers the test a hostile act, urged the Bush administration to seek immediate support from the U.N. Security Council for U.S. efforts to stop North Korea s nuclear weapons development. The crisis needs face-to-face diplomacy, he said in a statement late Sunday. Richardson, currently the governor of New Mexico, visited North Korea in October 2005 at the request of the Pyongyang government. He toured North Korea s nuclear reactor at Yongbyon as part of his effort to try to derail the development of nuclear weapons. Shortly after taking office in 2003, Richardson met in the United States for three days with North Korean diplomats.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/395243