N Korea carries out second nuclear test
The regime “successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test as part of measures to bolster itsnuclear deterrent for self-defence”, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed an atomic explosion at 9.54am (00.54 GMT) in north-eastern North Korea, estimating the blast’s yield at 10 to 20 kilotons – comparable to the bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Hours later, the regime test-fired three short-range, ground-to-air missiles, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported.
UN Security Council resolutions bar North Korea from engaging in any ballistic missile-related activity.
US president Barack Obama called the moves “blatant defiance” of the Security Council and a violation of international law that would only further isolate North Korea. North Korea’s claims “are a matter of grave concern to all nations”, he said. “North Korea’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile programme, constitute a threat to international peace and security.”
The UN said the development represented “a clear violation” of a UN Security Council resolution.
“I sincerely hope that the Security Council will take necessary corresponding measures,” UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said, declining to specify what further moves, or sanctions, he would urge the 15 council members to take. The council scheduled emergency consultations on North Korea’s actions for later yesterday.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the test as “erroneous, misguided and a danger to the world”. Even China, a traditional ally, issued rare criticism of Pyongyang saying Beijing was “resolutely opposed” to the test.
Russia said the test violated a UN Security Council resolution that requires North Korea to refrain from nuclear tests. Moscow’s foreign ministry called the test “a serious blow to international efforts” to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
North Korea’s defiance raises the stakes in the standoff over its nuclear programme. In the past two months, Pyongyang has launched a rocket; abandoned international nuclear negotiations; restarted its nuclear plants; and warned it would carry out the atomic test as well as long-range missile tests.
The rise in tensions comes amid questions about who will succeed 67-year-old Kim Jong Il, who is believed to have suffered a stroke last August. The test will also raise concerns about nuclear proliferation and analysts agree it will give North Korea more leverage in any talks with the US North Korea had agreed in February 2007 to a six-nation pact to begin disabling its main nuclear reactor in exchange for 1 million tonnes of fuel oil and other concessions.
But Pyongyang abruptly halted the process last summer over a dispute with Washington over how to verify its 18,000-page list of past atomic activities.
Both Russia and China have called for North Korea to rejoin the talks.
“North Korea’s strategic objective hasn’t changed. That objective is to win the attention of the Obama administration,” said Xu Guangyu, a researcher at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.
THE nuclear weapons test carried out in North Korea will spark fresh fears that the state is moving closer towards an ability to mount a nuclear warhead on long-range missiles.
The secretive one-party state, known for having one of the world’s worst human rights records, exploded its first nuclear device nearly three years ago in defiance of international opinion.
The 2006 test prompted the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution banning the North Korean regime from activities related to its ballistic missile programme.
In spite of this warning, North Korea test-launched a ballistic missile early last month, insisting at the time that it had put a peaceful communications satellite into orbit.
The UN reacted by condemning the ballistic missile launch and agreeing to tighten sanctions put into place in 2006.
After the UN refused to apologise for condemning the launch, North Korea expelled inspectors, threatened to restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, and walked away from six-nation nuclear talks comprising North Korea, the US, South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.
The underground explosion carried out in the north east of the country yesterday – followed by the test-firing of short-range missiles – is reportedly many times larger than the 2006 test.
The move significantly ratchets up international tension over the nuclear and missile ambitions of the Pyongyang regime.
The UN Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting in New York later yesterday to discuss its response to the latest moves by North Korea.
North Korea was labelled by former US president George Bush as part of the “axis of evil”.
