Berlin  - Responding to US President Barack Obama's ambitious plans for a non-nuclear world, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, called Sunday for the first disarmament moves this year.

In remarks reported by the Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag, he said, "Nuclear weapons and their unchecked proliferation are a major threat to us all.

"That is why I hope that the nuclear superpowers, the United States and Russia, agree to a tangible reduction in their arsenals this year. Nations such as Iran and North Korea must also be prevented from coming into posession of nuclear weapons."

Steinmeier apparently spoke before North Korea announced it had successfully launched a rocket able to reach space. Obama set out plans for disarmament last week and reiterated his ideas in Prague on Sunday. dpa