DTN News - KOREAN PENINSULA NEWS : North Korea Defies World Opinion With Nuclear Test
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Jung Hawon (AFP)(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 11, 2013: North Korea on Tuesday staged its most powerful nuclear test yet, claiming a breakthrough with a "miniaturised" device in a striking act of defiance that drew condemnation from global powers including its sole patron China.
The isolated state said its third underground test, after previous detonations in 2006 and 2009 that triggered a raft of UN sanctions, was a direct riposte to what it termed US "hostility".
North Korea's claim of miniaturisation will be of particular concern, suggesting it is a step closer to fitting a nuclear warhead onto a ballistic missile, following its successful launch of a long-range rocket in December.
The confirmation from state news agency KCNA came nearly three hours after seismic monitors detected an unusual tremor at 0257 GMT in the area of the country's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, close to the Chinese border.
Analysts said the timing appeared to be an attention-grabbing calculation from a state well versed in provocative acts, coming just ahead of US President Barack Obama's State of the Union address at the start of his second term.
Obama denounced the test and called for a "swift" and "credible" international response, as the Security Council readied to meet. Condemnation came from others including Russia, while Japan saw a "grave threat" to its own security.
China, whose trade and aid are a life-support to impoverished North Korea, expressed "firm opposition" to the nuclear test and noted that it came "despite widespread opposition from the international community".
"We strongly urge the DPRK (North Korea) to honour its commitment to denuclearisation, and not to take any actions which might worsen the situation," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The UN Security Council was expected to debate new measures when it meets on Tuesday morning in New York. The United States and its allies will push hard for China to get tough with its erratic ally and ramp up existing sanctions.
But China's leverage is limited, observers say, by its fear of a North Korean collapse and the prospect of a reunified, US-allied Korea directly on its border.
The foreign ministry statement called "on all parties to respond calmly" and to rely on dialogue in a moribund "six-party" process involving the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan.
It was the North's first nuclear test since its new, youthful leader Kim Jong-Un took over from his father, Kim Jong-Il. Security analysts said it sent a bold message of intent following a successful long-range rocket launch in December.
"The launch and the test are empirical evidence that Kim and his regime have no intention of negotiating away the North's nuclear programme any time soon," said Paul Carroll, programme director at the US-based Ploughshares Fund.
On a technical level, along with the miniaturisation aspect, experts are hungry to know if North Korea has switched from plutonium to a new and self-sustaining nuclear weaponisation programme using uranium.
The KCNA statement did not specify what fissile material was used, but noted that the test's success had provided the North with a "diversified" nuclear deterrent.
The North has substantial deposits of uranium ore and it is much easier to secretly enrich uranium, which can be done in centrifuges rather than the nuclear reactor required for plutonium enrichment.
Tuesday's explosion had a yield of six to seven kilotons, South Korean defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters, significantly more than the 2006 and 2009 tests, which both used plutonium.
The explosive yield compared with 15 kilotons in the world's first atomic bomb dropped by the United States on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945.
North Korea's first test yielded less than one kiloton and was widely seen as a dud. The second test yielded between two and six kilotons, according to Seoul.
The third test throws down a stark security and diplomatic challenge to Obama as well as to new Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Paik Hak-Soon, a North Korea expert at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, said Kim Jong-Un was intent on triggering a crisis that would force the international community to negotiate on his terms.
"The UN is running out of options and probably knows new sanctions would only have a limited impact," Paik said.
"The only real option for curbing further provocation is starting a dialogue with the North, but that will be very difficult given the domestic political pressure on leaders in the US, South Korea and Japan," Paik said.
Related News:
Financial Times - 4 minutes ago
North Korea's nuclear test has presented Beijing with a stark test of foreign policy, less than four months into the leadership of Xi Jinping, in a move that could further escalate diplomatic tensions across the region. Beijing on Tuesday said it “firmly opposed” ...
Reuters - 6 minutes ago
Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:17am EST. * North Korea says nuclear test was self-defence against U.S.. * Miniaturized, lighter nuclear device used, says KCNA. * Obama denounces "highly provocative act" (Recasts with North Korean comment). By David Chance and ...
Fox News - 6 minutes ago
China's foreign minister called North Korea's ambassador in for a dressing-down Tuesday and demanded his country's cease making further threats, in a show of Beijing's displeasure over its earstwhile ally's latest nuclear test. Yang Jiechi delivered a "stern ...
New York Times (blog) - 8 minutes ago
A South Korean watched news reporting about a possible nuclear test conducted by North Korea on Lee Jin-Man/Associated Press A South Korean watched news reporting about a possible nuclear test conducted by North Korea on a TV screen in Seoul on ...
Washington Post - 9 minutes ago
BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi summoned North Korea's ambassador to China on Tuesday to tell him Beijing was “strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed” to North Korea's nuclear test, the ministry said. China urged its longtime ally “to ...
DAWN.com - 10 minutes ago
North Korean soldiers patrol along the Yalu River at the North Korean town of Sinuiju after the country conducted its third nuclear test. —Photo by AFP. An activists from an anti-North Korea civic group burns a placard of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ...
Bloomberg - 11 minutes ago
North Korea must abandon its nuclear program and restart talks with the international community after conducting another nuclear test, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. The nation's third nuclear test should not be used to justify more military ...
BBC News - 12 minutes ago
North Korea's third nuclear test has thrown the country back into the spotlight, as the threat of further sanctions looms over an already crippled economy. The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting on Tuesday where countries such...
Sky News - 13 minutes ago
The diplomatic tremors from North Korea's underground bomb detonation are felt globally as nations respond to the provocation. 1:09pm UK, Tuesday 12 February 2013. A North Korean flag flies above the North Korean embassy in Beijing. The North Korean ...
TIME - 14 minutes ago
North Korea apparently detonated a third nuclear device overnight. On Tuesday night, President Obama is slated to propose a cut from in the deployed U.S. nuclear stockpile from its current 1,700 warheads down to as few as 1,000. Just like in stand-up ...
NBCNews.com - 14 minutes ago
Early readings of North Korea's nuclear test Monday show it was three to six times more powerful than any tests from that country before. President Obama is calling it "a highly provocative act." NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports. By Ian Johnston, Eric Baculinao...
Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) - 15 minutes ago
The North Korean young'un, Kim Jong-Un, is making his bid to sit at the big people's table. His country has just announced its third test of a nuclear bomb, this one considerably larger than those that preceded it (although still about half as powerful as the ...
Huffington Post - 17 minutes ago
PYONGYANG, North Korea — 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 ...
Sydney Morning Herald - 17 minutes ago
BEIJING: North Korea has once again defied the world to conduct its third nuclear test, taking the hermit kingdom a step closer to a credible nuclear weapon that could theoretically strike the United States or Australia. A statement from the state-run KCNA news ...
Politico (blog) - 20 minutes ago
FLASH: NORTH KOREA CONDUCTS NUCLEAR TEST — Reuters/Seoul: “North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Tuesday, South Korea's defence ministry said, after seismic activity measuring 4.9 magnitude was registered by the U.S. Geological Survey.
RT - 20 minutes ago
This handout picture taken by Japan's Defence Ministry on February 12, 2013 shows an Air Seld Defense Force's trainer aircraft taking off from the Misawa air base in Aomori prefecture, northern Japan on February 12, 2013 to take samples of air to detect ...
Asahi Shimbun - 20 minutes ago
North Korea's underground nuclear test on Feb. 12 is meant to send a strong message to the United States on the eve of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. After the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on Jan. 22 condemning ...
BBC News - 20 minutes ago
Widely tagged as unpredictable, sometimes North Korea is anything but. In 2006 and 2009, it launched long-range rockets. The latter, but not the former, was claimed as a satellite launch. Not content with one big bang, in both cases a nuclear test followed ...
euronews - 23 minutes ago
In Seoul, South Korea, activists burnt the North Korean flag – at a rally against the neighbouring country's nuclear test on February 12. Protester Choo Sun-hee said: “As a citizen of the Republic of Korea, I want North Korea to be strongly punished for its ...
MSNBC (blog) - 23 minutes ago
On a large television screen in front of Pyongyang's railway station, a North Korean state television broadcaster announces Tuesday that North Korea has conducted a nuclear bomb test. If North Korea hoped to get the world's attention, it succeeded.
Zee News - 25 minutes ago
Australia condemns North Korea`s nuclear test Melbourne: Australia on Tuesday condemned North Korea's nuclear test with Prime Minister Julia Gillard stating that the government will work for the strongest possible response to Pyongyang's continuing ...
The Australian - 25 minutes ago
Video; Image. North Korea conducts nuclear test. North Korea conducts nuclear test. Julie Noce reports. North Korea nuclear test. South Koreans watch TV news of North Korea's apparent nuclear test yesterday. Picture: AFP Source: AFP. NORTH Korea said ...
The Guardian - 26 minutes ago
China is likely to increase pressure on North Korea as its frustration with its ally grows, agreeing to new or tightened economic sanctions or possibly curbing its own assistance, experts believe. The Chinese foreign ministry voiced its "firm opposition" to the ...
ABC News - 29 minutes ago
President Obama called North Korea's latest nuclear test "a highly provocative act" that undermines regional stability and threatens international peace. North Korea announced earlier today that it successfully tested a miniaturized nuclear device underground ...
Businessweek - 31 minutes ago
North Korea conducted its third nuclear test today and warned of further action, underscoring a disregard for an international community that has already isolated the totalitarian state from the global economy. The underground test “of a smaller and light ...
Fox News - 31 minutes ago
Experts say North Korea's successful detonation of a miniaturized nuclear device is concerning because it indicates the country may be getting closer to the ability to put a nuclear device on a missile. North Korea drew worldwide condemnation Tuesday after it ...
TIME - 32 minutes ago
A South Korean watches news about a possible nuclear test conducted by North Korea on a TV at Seoul train station on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Related. Inside North Korea: 10 Revealing New Satellite Snapshots from Google Maps · North Korea's Latest Video ...
ABC News - 33 minutes ago
North Korea conducted its third nuclear test Tuesday, the latest step in a years-long effort to develop nuclear weapons. Experts believe the country remains far from having a nuclear-armed missile that could threaten the United States, which would require an ...
Channel 4 News - 35 minutes ago
North Korea says it will "never bow" to UN pressure to disarm following its nuclear test on Tuesday, the third in the country's history. Please wait while this video loads. If it doesn't load after a few seconds you may need to have Adobe Flash installed. Speaking ...
Aljazeera.com - 35 minutes ago
Pyongyang says its widely condemned underground nuclear test was merely its "first response" to "hostile" US actions. Last Modified: 12 Feb 2013 12:50. Email Article. Email. Print Article. Print. Share article. Share · Send Feedback. North Korea accuses...
|
|
