President Obama has again reaffirmed the U.S. position that North Korea will not gain anything from its past approach of raising tensions before entering negotiations, and will only end up under stronger sanctions.

Obama made the comments during a press conference at the White House in Washington, DC yesterday afternoon with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who noted that past precedent makes it highly likely that North Korea will go ahead with a provocative nuclear test at some point in the relatively near future.

“What we’ve said is that the more you engage in provocative acts, the more isolated you will become, the stronger sanctions will be in place, the more isolated you will be diplomatically, politically and commercially,” President Obama asserted.

While refusing to comment on the likelihood of a new nuclear test, President Obama did go on to offer a word of warning to Pyongyang, saying, “I think Pyongyang is very clear that the United States, Japan, South Korea, other countries in the region are unified in insisting that it abide by its responsibilities, abide by international norms, and that they will not be able to purchase anything from further provocative acts.”

In the face of the danger posed by North Korea’s provocative stance, Prime Minister Noda called for related countries to “communicate with each other fully and also stress that China’s role continues to be very important, and cooperate with China while also maintaining close coordination with the United States.”

Meanwhile, an Israeli newspaper has raised the possibility of Iranian nuclear scientists benefiting from any upcoming North Korean nuclear test.

Citing a Yonhap report claiming that "On March 31, 12 Iranians of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG) arrived in North Korea… to observe the missile launch and receive test data from North Korea," the Jurusalem Post voiced concerns over what Iranian scientists might be able to learn form a 3rd North Korean nuclear explosion.