View Full Version : North Korea says it conducted nuclear test
Source is here (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-north-korea-nuclear-test25-2009may25,0,4217189,print.story).
North Korea says it conducted nuclear test
From the Associated Press
8:13 PM PDT, May 24, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea says it has successfully conducted a nuclear test.
The country's official Korean Central News Agency reported that the test was carried out Monday.
Lee Dong-kwan, a spokesman for the South Korean president, says that a nuclear test may have been carried out in the North.
President Lee Myung-bak has called an emergency security session.
Another report. Source is here (http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/05/24/world/international-korea-north-test.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print).
May 24, 2009
North Korea Conducts Its Second Nuclear Test
By REUTERS
Filed at 11:10 p.m. ET
SEOUL, May 25 (Reuters) - North Korea said it had successfully conducted a nuclear test on Monday, raising the explosive power and level of control of its nuclear device to a new level, its state media said.
"We have successfully conducted another nuclear test on May 25 as part of the republic's measures to strengthen its nuclear deterrent," the North's official KCNA news agency said.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency also quoted a ruling party official as saying that a test was conducted.
YTN Television quoted the South Korean weather agency as saying it detected a tremor indicating a test at 0054 GMT.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak had called an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers over the test, Yonhap said.
North Korea had recently said it would again test a nuclear device -- its first was in October 2006 -- in reaction to tightened international sanctions after it fired a long-range rocket in April.
News of the test hit South Korean financial markets, sending the main KOSPI share index down four percent in late morning trade, while the won dropped more than 1 percent against the dollar.
Back in the early 1990s, when Professor Robert Divine would quip that someday we'd miss the Cold War, I'd scoff inwardly and write something snarky in my notes. Now?:eek:
"North Korea says it has successfully conducted a nuclear test."
Well North Korea says a lot of things.
Pete S., I would like to agree with you that this all just more talk from North Korea. However....
Source is here (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/05/barack-obama-north-korea-statement.html). [The statement is not presently available at whitehouse.gov. What happened to the tech savy administration?]
Not exactly a 3 a.m. phone call to the White house.
But a 2:10 a.m. statement from the White House of President Barack Obama regarding the urgent situation in North Korea. The president calls the situation on the Korean peninsula a matter of "grave concern."
The statement attributed to the president calls North Korea's announced nuclear test and suspected missile test "blatant defiance" of the U.N. Security Council that "directly and recklessly" challenges the international community, increasing regional tensions and deepening North Korea's isolation.
It's unusual for the White House to publish such a statement in the middle of the night. But, of course, in Asia, it's Monday now and not a Memorial Day Holiday.
Shortly before the presidential statement the State Department had issued one also expressing "grave concern" over the reported test.Twelve minutes later the White House produced its own statement on behalf of the president, an obvious escalation of concern and importance.
The full text of the president's statement is below.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Statement from the President Regarding North Korea
Today, North Korea said that it has conducted a nuclear test in violation of international law. It appears to also have attempted a short range missile launch. These actions, while not a surprise given its statements and actions to date, are a matter of grave concern to all nations. North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security.
By acting in blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council, North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community. North Korea's behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia. Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea's isolation. It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the Six-Party Talks as well as other members of the U.N. Security Council in the days ahead. ###
Short story, this is a reality check for the current administration and they are lost on what to do or say. Just my opinion and I hope I am wrong.
It's not such a nice world after all Mr. President.
It will take nuclear strike on a neighbor or invasion of the South for POTUS to do anything of substance.
He will most likely differ to the UN for any actions.
Not necessarily a bad thing, except that they won't do anything of substance either.
Fiercely Loyal
05-25-2009, 02:20
HMMM.... Thinking Pete has the POTUS down pat. Barring troop movement into S. Korea or a missile strike launched I do not think we are going to do anything. Who wants new deployments to Korea (in addition to our current rotations)? Not me. Lets finish Afghanistan, Iraq, Blakans, Phillipines, and all the other hand in the pots places first.
greenberetTFS
05-25-2009, 06:41
They are probably sitting around texting each other wondering why North Korea is acting this way. After all he is a man of peace and wants to talk all out diffrances out. Short story, this is a reality check for the current administration and they are lost on what to do or say. Just my opinion and I hope I am wrong.
BO,
Good point,and IMHO I don't think your wrong......:rolleyes:;)
GB TFS :munchin
Well, the USGS confirmed there was a 4.7 quake in N. Korea.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/130_40.php
Looks as if it's not "All Talk" from the NK's this time. Looks as if this devise worked far better than their fizzle in 2006.
Okay Barry.....what ya gonna do. :munchin
Source is here (http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-39913120090527?sp=true).
Russia fears Korea conflict could go nuclear - Ifax
Wed May 27, 2009 4:48pm IST
By Oleg Shchedrov
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is taking security measures as a precaution against the possibility tension over North Korea could escalate into nuclear war, news agencies quoted officials as saying on Wednesday.
Interfax quoted an unnamed security source as saying a stand-off triggered by Pyongyang's nuclear test on Monday could affect the security of Russia's far eastern regions, which border North Korea.
"The need has emerged for an appropriate package of precautionary measures," the source said.
"We are not talking about stepping up military efforts but rather about measures in case a military conflict, perhaps with the use of nuclear weapons, flares up on the Korean Peninsula," he added. The official did not elaborate further.
North Korea has responded to international condemnation of its nuclear test and a threat of new U.N. sanctions by saying it is no longer bound by an armistice signed with South Korea at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Itar-Tass news agency quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry official as saying the "war of nerves" over North Korea should not be allowed to grow into a military conflict, a reference to Pyongyang's decision to drop out of the armistice deal.
"DANGEROUS BRINKMANSHIP"
"We assume that a dangerous brinkmanship, a war of nerves, is under way, but it will not grow into a hot war," the official told Tass. "Restraint is needed."
The Foreign Ministry often uses statements sourced to unnamed officials, released through official news agencies, to lay down its position on sensitive issues.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has condemned the North Korean tests but his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has warned the international community against hasty decisions.
Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council which is preparing to discuss the latest stand-off over the peninsula.
In the past, Moscow has been reluctant to support Western calls for sanctions. But Russian officials in the United Nations have said that this time the authority of the international body is at stake.
Medvedev told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who called him on Wednesday, that Russia was prepared to work with Seoul on a new U.N. Security Council resolution and to revive international talks on the North Korean nuclear issue.
"The heads of state noted that the nuclear test conducted by North Korea on Monday is a direct violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution and impedes international law," a Kremlin press release said.
greenberetTFS
05-27-2009, 14:13
Source is here (http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-39913120090527?sp=true).
Sigaba,
That's just great that Russia is upset about this.......:eek: Let them go in and do something about it........:rolleyes:
GB TFS :munchin
Sigaba,
That's just great that Russia is upset about this.......:eek: Let them go in and do something about it........:rolleyes:
GB TFS :munchin
GB TFS--
My take on the article is that Russia is going to sit on the fence and see which way the winds blow before weighing in. That way, the Russians can say "See, we're a great power still: we solved this crisis."
Meanwhile (source (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090527/D98EKAHG0.html))...
NKorea threatens to attack US, SKorean warships
May 27, 9:51 AM (ET)
By HYUNG-JIN KIM
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea threatened military action Wednesday against U.S. and South Korean warships plying the waters near the Koreas' disputed maritime border, raising the specter of a naval clash just days after the regime's underground nuclear test.
Pyongyang, reacting angrily to Seoul's decision to join an international program to intercept ships suspected of aiding nuclear proliferation, called the move tantamount to a declaration of war.
"Now that the South Korean puppets were so ridiculous as to join in the said racket and dare declare a war against compatriots," North Korea is "compelled to take a decisive measure," the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by state media.
Seoul's decision comes at a time when "the state of military confrontation is growing acute and there is constant danger of military conflict," the statement warned.
South Korea's military said Wednesday it was prepared to "respond sternly" to any North Korean provocation.
North Korea's latest belligerence comes as the U.N. Security Council debates how to punish the regime for testing a nuclear bomb Monday in what President Barack Obama called a "blatant violation" of international law.
Ambassadors from the five permanent veto-wielding council members - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - as well as Japan and South Korea were working out the details of a new resolution.
South Korea, divided from the North by a heavily fortified border, had responded to the nuclear test by joining the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led network of nations seeking to stop ships from transporting the materials used in nuclear bombs.
Seoul previously resisted joining the PSI in favor of seeking reconciliation with Pyongyang, but pushed those efforts aside Monday after the nuclear test in the northeast.
North Korea warned Wednesday that any attempt to stop, board or inspect its ships would constitute a "grave violation."
The regime also said it could no longer promise the safety of U.S. and South Korean warships and civilian vessels in the waters near the Korea's western maritime border.
"They should bear in mind that the (North) has tremendous military muscle and its own method of strike able to conquer any targets in its vicinity at one stroke or hit the U.S. on the raw, if necessary," it said.
The maritime border has long been a flashpoint between the two Koreas. North Korea disputes the line unilaterally drawn by the United Nations at the end of the Koreas' three-year war in 1953, and has demanded it be redrawn further south.
The truce signed in 1953 and subsequent military agreements call for both sides to refrain from warfare, but doesn't cover the waters off the west coast.
North Korea has used the maritime border dispute to provoke two deadly naval skirmishes - in 1999 and 2002.
On Wednesday, the regime promised "unimaginable and merciless punishment" for anyone daring to challenge its ships.
Pyongyang also reportedly restarted its weapons-grade nuclear plant, South Korean media said.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper said U.S. spy satellites detected signs of steam at the North's Yongbyon nuclear complex, an indication it may have started reprocessing nuclear fuel. The report, which could not be confirmed, quoted an unidentified government official. South Korea's Yonhap news agency also carried a similar report.
The move would be a major setback for efforts aimed at getting North Korea to disarm.
North Korea had stopped reprocessing fuel rods as part of an international deal. In 2007, it agreed to disable the Yongbyon reactor in exchange for aid and demolished a cooling tower at the complex.
The North has about 8,000 spent fuel rods which, if reprocessed, could allow it to harvest 13 to 18 pounds (six to eight kilograms) of plutonium - enough to make at least one nuclear bomb, experts said. North Korea is believed to have enough plutonium for at least a half dozen atomic bombs.
Further ratcheting up tensions, North Korea test-fired five short-range missiles over the past two days, South Korean officials confirmed.
A North Korean newspaper, Minju Joson, said in commentary Wednesday that Pyongyang does not fear repercussions for its actions.
"It is a laughable delusion for the United States to think that it can get us to kneel with sanctions," it said. "We've been living under U.S. sanctions for decades, but have firmly safeguarded our ideology and system while moving our achievements forward. The U.S. sanctions policy toward North Korea is like striking a rock with a rotten egg."
Does the regime really want to be forced to "kneel" with something harsher than sanctions by world super powers? Seems they're gunning for that outcome. :munchin
Another new UN program in our future - nukes for food. :mad:
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Another new UN program in our future - nukes for food. :mad:
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Richard
Didn't we already try that? Or is my memory slipping
Didn't we already try that? Or is my memory slipping
Kinda...for awhile...until they got off the UN's rotten radish list except in Parade Magazine and a file cabinet full of contingency plans somewhere in PACOM or the Pentagon...their crops failed yet again...their benelovent, self-appointed, people's democratic republic community organizer-in-chief became ill...the natives became hungry yet again and began growing restless...and the MMFICs in their Soviet-styled, oversized, size 2 extra-pointy bus driver's hats decided it was easier to use nuclear blackmail than to give up their power or change their ways.
And so it goes...;)
Richard's $.02 :munchin
lonepine
05-27-2009, 19:54
If my memory is correct NK has a missel with the ability to hit the west coast now. Granted it may hit Canada or Mexico, but it is a threat if I remember the news correctly.
Not quite. They tested one that was supposed to be able to reach the West Coast, but it barely made it to northern Japan. Naturally, the North Koreans called it a resounding success.
More troubling news:
North Korea threatens 'unimaginable and merciless' punishment (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/27/AR2009052701060.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009052501053)
North Korea Threatens to Attack South
Pyongyang Also Says Truce Ending War in 1953 Is Invalid
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, May 28, 2009
TOKYO, May 27 -- North Korea vowed Wednesday to attack South Korea if ships from the North are searched as part a U.S.-led effort to stop vessels suspected of carrying missiles or weapons of mass destruction. It also declared that the truce that ended the Korean War in 1953 was no longer valid.
The threat -- unusually broad and bellicose, even by North Korean standards -- came two days after the communist state was condemned by the international community, including longtime allies China and Russia, for testing a second nuclear device in violation of U.N. resolutions. Since Monday, the North has also launched five short-range missiles into the sea off its eastern coast.
The United States, Japan and their European allies are pushing for the adoption of a U.N. Security Council resolution that would strengthen sanctions against North Korea for the nuclear test and missile launches, according to Security Council diplomats.
The United States and its allies floated a proposal to expand a list of entities and individuals whose assets might be frozen. It could ban some North Koreans from traveling abroad. They are exploring ways to inspect more North Korean cargo on land and sea, expand an arms embargo and tighten a ban on luxury goods.
They also want to cut North Korea's access to the international banking system. "We are trying to dry out the resources for the military," said a senior U.N. diplomat close to the talks.
Council diplomats say they are still trying to overcome skepticism from Russia and China, which have been reluctant to impose tough economic sanctions. But senior U.N. diplomats say they have shown a new willingness to consider sanctions.
Monday's nuclear test pushed South Korea on Tuesday to join the Proliferation Security Initiative, which was created in 2003 by President George W. Bush and includes more than 90 countries that have agreed to interdict suspicious cargo ships.
On Wednesday, the government of Kim Jong Il went on a rhetorical counterattack. North Korea said it no longer could guarantee the safety of ships from South Korea and other countries sailing in the Yellow Sea off its western coast. It added that it would not honor a North-South border in that sea, which was drawn at the end of the Korean War.
The North also said it would not respect the legal status of five islands on the South's side of the line. Two naval clashes occurred in that area in 1999 and 2002, killing six sailors from South Korea and more than 30 from North Korea. In those skirmishes, North Korea was badly outgunned by the South's more modern weapons.
The armistice that ended the Korean War 56 years ago bars either side from imposing a naval blockade, and North Korea claimed Wednesday that the South had nullified the agreement by joining the anti-proliferation effort.
Since "the U.S. imperialists and [South Korean President] Lee Myung-bak's group of traitors have reneged" on the armistice, North Korea said, it is no longer obligated to obey international law or abide by bilateral agreements.
In Seoul, Lee called for "calm" and told his advisers to "respond with cool-headedness."
Government officials said North Korean ships will continue to be allowed safe passage in South Korean waters, according to Yonhap, the South Korean news agency. Only ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction will be targets of inspections, the officials said.
South Korea, though, has stepped up its surveillance of North Korea and increased its military readiness, according to a statement Wednesday night from the Ministry of Defense. It said that U.S. and South Korean forces "will restrain additional North Korean provocation and manage the current situation towards stability, yet respond firmly to North Korea's possible military provocation." About 28,500 U.S. troops are in South Korea.
Analysts in Seoul regarded North Korea's warnings as serious but doubted the willingness of Kim Jong Il to provoke a large-scale confrontation.
"The problem is that both sides cannot afford to make a concession," said Dong Yong-seung, a senior fellow at the North Korean division of Samsung Economic Research Institute. "It is like a game of chicken."
Andrei Lankov, author of several books about North Korea and a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, said, "Small-scale shooting is possible and even probable, but nothing more serious than that."
"The location of mansions where Pyongyang's leaders enjoy their Hennessy cognac is well known to the American military, and North Koreans know the precision of U.S. cruise missiles," Lankov said. "The North will steer clear of any action which might lead to a real confrontation."
Staff writer Colum Lynch at the United Nations and special correspondent Stella Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
I know NK has made countless threats before, but I really do believe that the regime is being pushed to the breaking point and is running out of options.
I may be wrong on this and I hope if that is the case that the QP's and other here will correct my ignorance on this. I also have no love for this egotistical mountain pygmy lollipop king-dictator.
Isn't history rife with examples of cultures, tribes, countries, etc..; which have been backed against a wall and because they couldn't feed the populace and had the tools to conquer what they lacked they gave 'conquest' a go? Wouldn't further strangling his ability to survive actually give him a viable reason and impetus to go to war?
In this case is it plausible that if the 'Herr Hasglasses thesizeofa 1950'stelevision' does go off his rocker and launch tactical nukes. Do any of you believe that China or Russia will back him up a second time? I was just curious what some of you folks in the hypothetical may think about this?
In this case is it plausible that if the 'Herr Hasglasses thesizeofa 1950'stelevision' does go off his rocker and launch tactical nukes. Do any of you believe that China or Russia will back him up a second time? I was just curious what some of you folks in the hypothetical may think about this?
He won't launch nukes as a preemptive strike on South Korea/Japan.
He may, however, launch a ground war. And when he starts loosing, lauch nukes.
I don't think Russia or China will back him.
China doesn't want the NKorean refugees.
Russia probably doesn't care, not their problem.
Iran on the other hand, maybe.
If they don't already have everything they need for their nuke program, they may come out and verbally support them.
UN won't do anything preemptive.
I'm waiting to see what Japan does.
I'm wondering if this will be enough for them drop their anti-nuclear ways and weaponize.
The Reaper
05-28-2009, 13:49
Problem is, Seoul is so close to the DMZ that he could probably commence shelling/rocketing the city within 24 hours of starting the ground offensive. They can start the SCUD campain without crossing the border.
What will the South (and us) give them to stop it?
For that matter, Japan is under the missile threat as well, and is also under our nuke umbrella.
We have the capability right now to destroy NK within 60 minutes, if we have the motivation and the will to do so, and they cannot touch us, other possibly than the troops in South Korea. If we launched a coordinated land and sea based ballistic missile attack, they could probably not even be able to do that. In ten years, we may not be able to stop them from getting off a limited first strike. Standing down the missile defense development is a bad idea at this time.
TR
Russia probably doesn't care, not their problem.
A different interpretation of Russia's interests in the Korean Peninsula can be found here <<LINK (http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=747)>>.
See also p. 121 in Russian Foreign Policy:Sources and Implications available here <<LINK (http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG768.pdf)>>.
Slantwire
05-28-2009, 14:48
What will the South (and us) give them to stop it?
My knee-jerk reaction is, the answer to this question should be delivered by B-2.
The Korean Central News Agency reportedly has announced that North Korea “successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense.” Several news media reported that the Russian Ministry of Defense estimating the test had a yield of approximately 10 to 20 kilotons.
Yet the preliminary seismic data published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows that the test had a seismic magnitude of 4.7, only slightly more powerful than the 4.3 of the 2006 test.
Was it another fizzle? We’ll have to wait for more analysis of the seismic data, but so far the early news media reports about a “Hiroshima-size” nuclear explosion seem to be overblown.
Source (http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2009/05/nktest.php)
Secondary source (http://www.ctbto.org/press-centre/highlights/2009/ctbtos-initial-findings-on-the-dprks-2009-announced-nuclear-test/)
Team Sergeant
05-29-2009, 19:10
I say it was TNT, about 100 tons or something of that nature.
Detonated underground so the north koreans could say they detonated a nuclear weapon, but, I say the north koreans don't have the intellectual capacity to build such a device.
I say they enjoy making the world "think" they have a nuclear device just to gain some sort of national/military credibility.
You detonate above ground and you have 100% proof positive that you indeed possess a device, you detonate 100 tons of TNT below ground no one is wiser.
I ain't buying it.
my .02
TS
Looks as if they conducted another one.
The USGS says the "explosion" was a 4.7 to 4.9 on the richter scale. The same reading as NK's 2009 test.
:munchin
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Defying U.N. warnings, North Korea on Tuesday conducted its third nuclear test in the remote, snowy northeast, taking a crucial step toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of striking the United States.
North Korea said the atomic test was merely its "first response" to what it called U.S. threats, and said it will continue with unspecified "second and third measures of greater intensity" if Washington maintains its hostility.
The underground test, which set off powerful seismic waves, drew immediate condemnation from Washington, the U.N. and others. Even its only major ally, China, summoned the North's ambassador for a dressing-down.
President Barack Obama, who was scheduled to give a State of the Union address later Tuesday, said nuclear tests "do not make North Korea more secure." Instead, North Korea has "increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction," he said in a statement.
North Korea claimed the device was smaller than in previous tests; Seoul said it likely produced a bigger explosion.
The test was a defiant response to U.N. orders to shut down atomic activity or face more sanctions and international isolation. It will likely draw more sanctions from the United States and other countries at a time when North Korea is trying to rebuild its moribund economy and expand its engagement with the outside world.
Several U.N. resolutions bar North Korea from conducting nuclear or missile tests because the U.N. Security Council considers Pyongyang a would-be proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its nuclear testing a threat to international peace and stability. North Korea dismisses that as a double standard, and claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, which has been seen as enemy No. 1 since the 1950-53 Korean War. The U.S. stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to protect its ally.
Tuesday's test is North Korea's first since young leader Kim Jong Un took power of a country long estranged from the West. The test will likely be portrayed in North Korea as a strong move to defend the nation against foreign aggression, particularly from the U.S.
"The test was conducted in a safe and perfect way on a high level, with the use of a smaller and light A-bomb, unlike the previous ones, yet with great explosive power," North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said, confirming speculation that seismic activity near Kilju around midday was a nuclear test.
North Korea was punished by more U.N. sanctions after a December launch of a rocket that the U.N. and Washington called a cover for a banned missile test. Pyongyang said it was a peaceful, and successful, bid to send a satellite into space.
The timing of the test is significant. It came hours before Obama's speech and only days before the Saturday birthday of Kim Jong Un's father, late leader Kim Jong Il, whose memory North Korean propaganda has repeatedly linked to the country's nuclear ambitions.
This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, and in late February South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye will be inaugurated.
In Pyongyang, where it was snowing Tuesday, North Koreans gathered around televisions to watch a 3 p.m. TV broadcast announcing the nuclear test.
The test shows the world that North Korea is a "nuclear weapons state that no one can irritate," Kim Mun Chol, a 42-year-old Pyongyang citizen, told The Associated Press in the North Korean capital. "Now we have nothing to be afraid of in the world."
The National Intelligence Service in Seoul told lawmakers that North Korea may conduct an additional nuclear test and test-launch a ballistic missile in response to U.N. talks about imposing more sanctions, according to the office of South Korean lawmaker Jung Chung-rae, who attended the private meeting. Analysts have also previously speculated that Pyongyang might conduct multiple tests, possibly of plutonium and uranium devices.
North Korea is estimated to have enough weaponized plutonium for four to eight bombs, according to American nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker.
It wasn't immediately clear to outside experts whether the device exploded Tuesday was small enough to fit on a missile, and whether it was fueled by plutonium or highly enriched uranium. A successful test would take North Korean scientists a step closer to building a nuclear warhead that can reach U.S. shores —seen as the ultimate goal of North Korea's nuclear program.
In 2006, and 2009, North Korea is believed to have tested devices made of plutonium. But in 2010, Pyongyang revealed a program to enrich uranium, which would give the country a second source of bomb-making materials — a worrying development for the U.S. and its allies.
"This latest test and any further nuclear testing could provide North Korean scientists with additional information for nuclear warhead designs small enough to fit on top of its ballistic missiles," Daryl Kimball and Greg Thielmann wrote on the private Arms Control Association's blog. "However, it is likely that additional testing would be needed for North Korea to field either a plutonium or enriched uranium weapon."
Uranium would be a worry because plutonium facilities are large and produce detectable radiation, making it easier for outsiders to find and monitor. However, uranium centrifuges can be hidden from satellites, drones and nuclear inspectors in caves, tunnels and other hard-to-reach places. Highly enriched uranium also is easier than plutonium to engineer into a weapon.
Monitoring stations in South Korea detected an earthquake in the North with a magnitude of 4.9 and the South's Defense Ministry said that corresponds to an estimated explosive yield of 6-7 kilotons.
The yields of the North's 2006 and 2009 tests were estimated at 1 kiloton and 2 to 6 kilotons, respectively, spokesman Kim Min-seok said. By comparison, U.S. nuclear bombs that flattened Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II were estimated at 13 kilotons and 22 kilotons, respectively, Kim said.
The test is a product of North Korea's military-first, or songun, policy, and shows Kim Jong Un is running the country much as his father did, said Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group think tank.
The decision to push ahead with a test will be a challenge to the U.N. Security Council, which recently punished Pyongyang for launching the December long-range rocket. In condemning that launch and imposing more sanctions on Pyongyang, the council had demanded a stop to future launches and ordered North Korea to respect a ban on nuclear activity — or face "significant action" by the U.N.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the test in a statement. The Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the nuclear test, and several ambassadors said they expected strong criticism.
China expressed firm opposition to the test but called for a calm response by all sides. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi summoned North Korea's ambassador and delivered a "stern representation" and demanded that North Korea "swiftly return to the correct channel of dialogue and negotiation," the ministry said in a statement.
The other part of a credible North Korean nuclear deterrent is its missile program. While it has capable short and medium-range missiles, it has struggled in tests of technology for long-range missiles needed to carry bombs to the United States, although it did launch the satellite in December.
North Korea isn't close to having a nuclear bomb it can use on the United States or its allies. Instead, Hecker said in a posting on Stanford University's website, "it wants to hold U.S. interests at risk of a nuclear attack to deter us from regime change and to create international leverage and diplomatic maneuvering room."
http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-conducts-third-controversial-nuke-test-091212327.html