S. Korean opposition leader warns N. Korea against nuclear test.

SEOUL, May 7 Kyodo

The interim leader of South Korea's opposition party warned North Korea on Monday against conducting another nuclear test, saying such a move would ''do all harm but no good.''

''North Korea should halt (preparations for) a third nuclear test that would do all harm but no good,'' Park Jie Won, the new floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party in the National Assembly, told a gathering of senior party members.

Park, 69, a close confidante to the late former President Kim Dae Jung who held the landmark inter-Korean summit in 2000 that resulted in improved inter-Korean ties, is also serving as acting party chief until a new party leader is selected at a party national convention set for June 9.

He also called on South Korea and the United States to take a softer approach to North Korea by beginning food aid and initiating efforts to preserve peace on the Korean Peninsula.

President Lee Myung Bak has taken a tough stand against North Korea since assuming office in 2008, demanding the North scrap its nuclear weapons development program and apologize for military provocations.

Tensions are running high amid growing speculation North Korea is set to carry out another nuclear test to save its lost face in the wake of its failed rocket launch last month.

North Korea previously carried out two nuclear tests following failed rocket launches, first in 2006 and then in 2009.