N. Korea tests nuclear weapon

[Korus]

From CNEWS:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/10/07/1971286-ap.html

The country's official Korean Central News Agency said the underground test was performed successfully "with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 per cent," and that no radioactive material leaked from that test site

Underground test with no radioactive material leaked from the test site.. Which means no way to confirm if it was a nuclear detonation, or just a heck of a lot of explosives, a la early Manhattan project tests to see what an explosion that big will look like.

It's not like NK has always been the most honest of states..

Just something to think about before more details come to light.

 

[xo31@711ret]

Either way, madness pure & simple madness

-gerry

 

[Korus]

No argument there, Gerry.

 

[Bert]

Has it been objectively confirmed a detonation has taken place?  I can't get
past that Team American movie character.

 

[couchcommander]

South Korea is confirming, US is non-committal at this point, USGS measurements have indicated a 4.2 level quake in the area. Something went boom.

*edit* according to my own calculations (BEWARE! I AM A HISTORY STUDENT! ) that's about a 5 2 kiloton bomb. (told you not to trust a History student's math)

 

[xo31@711ret]

Well with the NK 'government' I can only see an escalation of political manoeuvring now that they believe they have a "trump" card to play. Their economy is / has been in the s***hole for years, their people starving due to famine, espionage, kidnapping, etc. It remains to be seen how their neighbours such as SK and Japan will respond; fingers crossed.

-gerry

 

[Bert]

I guess the event, nuclear or not, may need clarification anyway. 

 

[The Bread Guy]

Yeah, this'll help  :

Security Council expected to hold emergency meeting on NKorea's nuclear test
Agence France Presse, 9 Oct 06
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061009/wl_afp/nkoreanuclearweaponsun_061009070737

The UN Security Council was expected to hold an emergency meeting to weigh how to respond to        North Korea's first-ever nuclear weapons test in brazen defiance of a UN resolution.  Hours after the communist state's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced a successful underground nuclear test, the White House Monday said that if confirmed the move would be a "provocative act" and called for immediate action by the UN Security Council.  Only Friday, the 15-member Council unanimously adopted a non-binding statement calling on Pyongyang not to go ahead with the test and warned of unspecified consequences if it did so . . . .

 

[The Bread Guy]

Text of PRK statement, via Agence France Presse:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/world/asia/09ktext.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The field of scientific research in the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions on October 9, Juche 95 [2006] at a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great, prosperous, powerful socialist nation.

It has been confirmed that there was no such danger from radioactive emission in the course of the nuclear test, as it was carried out under scientific consideration and careful calculation.

The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology, 100 percent.

It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA [Korean People’s Army] and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability.

It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it.

 

[Echo9]

There's only 2 ways for the problems with the Norks to end.

1.  US acts unilaterally in a surprise strike, to decapitate the Nork leadership and the conventional arty threat to the south.  Based on the way that the US does business, not likely.

2.  China acts because it perceives a real threat to its own interests.  I would suggest that the only threat to its interests that would get it to act would be if one of Japan, South Korea or Taiwan chose to nuclearize in response to the Norks.  Anything up to that point is likely tolerable from the Chinese perspective.  Sure, they'll issue condemnations, and such, but they won't actually do anything to contain the threat.

It's all about to go Pete Tong...

 

[tomahawk6]

3. No military action. More economic sanctions. >

 

[The Bread Guy]

If you want to know more about what the US Geological Survey spotted:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/ustqab.php

Earthquake Details
Magnitude 4.2 (Light)
Date-Time Monday, October 9, 2006 at 01:35:27 (UTC)
= Coordinated Universal Time
Monday, October 9, 2006 at 10:35:27 AM
= local time at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 41.294°N, 129.134°E
Depth 0 km (~0 mile) set by location program
Region NORTH KOREA
Distances 70 km (40 miles) N of Kimchaek, North Korea
90 km (55 miles) SW of Chongjin, North Korea
180 km (115 miles) S of Yanji, Jilin, China
385 km (240 miles) NE of PYONGYANG, North Korea

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 9.6 km (6.0 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters Nst= 17, Nph= 17, Dmin=371.4 km, Rmss=0.86 sec, Gp= 83°,
M-type=body magnitude (Mb), Version=7 
Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID ustqab

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

LOTSA Maps...
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/ustqab.php#maps

 

[Taylor187]

If the UN security counsel goes soft of NK, what kind of message will that send to Iran then?

If they dont put thier foot down on this I think things will get more interesting in the ME as time rolls on.

 

[Mike Baker]

It increasingly reminds me of a film I saw this summer, The Day After. Not good at all.

 

[cplcaldwell]

The President of the United States is making a televised address on this issue now, see your local CNN, CBC Newsworld or CTV Newsnet feed.

 

[Mike Baker]

The President of the United States is making a televised address on this issue now, see your local CNN, CBC Newsworld or CTV Newsnet feed.

Just saw it, never really said if it was an actual test of a nuclear weapon or lots of TNT.

 

[tomahawk6]

The best thing we can do is to encourage the Japanese and ROK's to develope nuclear weapons. I would favor giving them some US nuclear weapons. This is something the Chinese dont want to see and makes them pay a price for not stopping the NK nuclear program.

 

[bilton090]

It's not looking good !, China, Japan & the Soviet's need to get on them fast !
    SCARY SHIT !
                     
                P.S- North Korea is not the people you ought to see with nuclear capability ! 

 

[warspite]

-Experts claim that a test could come as early as this Sunday(tomorrow), the anniversary of Kim Jong-il's coming to power(read this on CBC but can't find the article).

To sum it up...... It's gonna blow

You know sometimes I hate being right.

So thoughts anyone on whats going to happen from here?
Will the U.S. flatten N. Korea?
Will China beat them to it?
Thoughts anyone?

 

[dglad]

The best thing we can do is to encourage the Japanese and ROK's to develope nuclear weapons. I would favor giving them some US nuclear weapons. This is something the Chinese dont want to see and makes them pay a price for not stopping the NK nuclear program.

If you did that, you'd have a hard time justifying a non-proliferation line regarding Iran...and, for that matter, Egypt, Syria, Venezuela, or any other country wealthy enough to afford the technology to manufacture nuclear weapons.

This really does represent a watershed moment in global security.  This is the moment at which nuclear weapons development either remains under relatively tight control--largely because of a consensual agreement among nations that it should--or begins to spread, more or less unchecked (incidentally, someone said this could be like "The Day After"...that followed a scenario of full-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.  More likely is the scenario in the current show "Jericho", or a book called "War Day".  Both demonstrate how even relatively limited nuclear attacks will have massive impacts on those who never even hear the sound of a nuclear detonation.)