North Korea Nuclear Standoff

[cycloneye]

North Korea makes underground nuclear test

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea delivered on its threat Monday, conducting a second nuclear test that angered governments around the globe.

The North had threatened to do so unless the U.N. Security Council apologized for imposing sanctions on it following a rocket test on April 5.

The secretive communist state also apparently test-fired a short-range missile on Monday, the White House said.

Japan called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. One is expected Monday, said Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.

The White House -- which less than three weeks ago announced a new diplomatic effort to restart stalled talks with North Korea about its nuclear program -- said the test was in "blatant defiance" of the Security Council. Watch how the test may have taken world by surprise »

"North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," the White House said. "The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community."

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana condemned the test.

"These irresponsible acts by North Korea warrant a firm response by the international community. The European Union will be in contact with its partners to discuss appropriate measures," he said in a written statement.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I condemn North Korea's nuclear test in the strongest terms. This act will undermine prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula and will do nothing for North Korea's security. The international community will treat North Korea as a partner if it behaves responsibly. If it does not then it can expect only renewed isolation."

North Korea announced its underground nuclear test a little more than an hour after the U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 4.7 seismic disturbance at the site of North Korea's first nuclear test.

There was no immediate information on the yield of the weapon used in Monday's test. The Russian Defense Ministry said the explosion was between 10 to 20 kilotons. The U.S. State Department said it was analyzing the data.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency would say only that the latest test was safely conducted "on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control."

U.S. intelligence estimated that the first North Korean test -- in October 2006 -- produced an explosion equal to less than 1,000 tons of TNT. The low yield was a fraction of the size of the bombs the United States dropped on Japan at the end of World War II.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiap ... index.html

[Nimbus]

NK apparently timed this to coincide with the Asia Europe Meeting held in Hanoi. The 45 ASEM Foreign Ministers were to discuss policy, including events on the Korean peninsula. Its currently Russia's watch in the United Nations. Some of the conspiracy sites are suggesting NK somehow acquired Russian suitcase bomb technology that could be small enough to mount on one of their recent new missile designs. Intelligence agencies that have been monitoring the area where the test took place probably have a good idea of what was really brought into the mine. There is a lot of media to sift though to figure out the whole story. This event kind of sticks out like the smiling Buddha nuclear test in India on May 18th 1974. In both these tests the small countries involved should not have been able to build a successful nuclear device unless there was some unexplaned proliferation of nuclear technology.

[cycloneye]

Here is the area where the test was made.

[Cryomaniac]

The UN need to pass a resolution allowing S.Korea and Japan to take miltary action. They wont, because the west are too scared to do it.

[cycloneye]

Is Kim-Jon-Ill calling the shots or another person is? He has been very sick since the heart attack in August.

[Cryomaniac]

...
"North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," the White House said. "The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community."
...

Yes, it warrants action, what it will get is words. Words that N.Korea will ignore.

[cycloneye]

I think a legit and united military threat will deter NK from its Nuclear ambitions.

[TYNI]

I have a bad feeling about this one. Somehow, tens of thousands, maybe more, innocent people will lose their life before any response. I am very surprised Japan and S. Korea have let this slide this far (maybe they are lobbying behind the scenes at the UN).

[Nimbus]

This story could also be a continuation of the news about China sailing fishing boats close to military ships. China and North Korea have a fleet of over 10,000 fishing boats sailing around randomly. Surely bringing troop ships and destroyers into a crowded shipping area like that would be risky since you would not know which 5 or 10 vessels out of the 10,000 fishing boats might be carrying a 20 kiloton nuclear device. The waters west of Korea are relatively shallow so even submarines would be vulnerable to a nuclear surface blast. This should stimulate a lot of talk in the United Nations and perhaps get people rethinking their military strategies.

[cycloneye]

U.N Security Council Condemns North Korea

China went along with this resolution.

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council is condemning North Korea's nuclear test as a clear violation of its resolutions.

The council said in a statement Monday that it will begin work immediately on a new legally binding resolution addressing North Korea's violations.

The U.N.'s most powerful body held an emergency meeting at Japan's request after North Korea conducted its second nuclear test earlier Monday.

The council is demanding that North Korea abide by two previous resolutions, which among other things banned further nuclear tests and called for a return to six-party talks aimed at eliminating its nuclear program.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,521742,00.html

[Nimbus]

Glad this has landed in the hands of the UN with a global condemnation of NK. Any kind of Korean naval embargo would be a real cause for concern and would end up bullying innocent people. wyq614 is scheduled to return to China Sunday, hopefully without having to deal with any threats of violence in the Yellow sea.

EDIT:

There have been numerous articles about defection of personnel that were responsible for the North Korean nuclear program.

From one of my earlier posts.

Among the defectors now believed to be in a western safe house is the man
described as the father of North Korea's nuclear programme, Kyong Won Ha, the
paper reported.
Debriefings of Kyong are said to have given US intelligence officials an
unprecedented insight into North Korea's nuclear capabilities, particularly at
its reactor No. 1 in the southern city of Yongbyon, which has been a cause of
some concern in the west.

Western intelligence agencies must know exactly who is calling the shots, the chain of command within the nuclear program etc. etc. This should make it possible to target the guilty individuals directly without having to punish the whole country.

As a thought experiment what would have happened if Hitlers elite military strategists could have been identified targeted and discredited before Germany reached power in WW2?

[RL3AO]

Ooo. The Security Council condemned them. Scary....

I have a bad feeling about this one. Somehow, tens of thousands, maybe more, innocent people will lose their life before any response. I am very surprised Japan and S. Korea have let this slide this far (maybe they are lobbying behind the scenes at the UN).

The French and British let Nazi Germany do too much before they responded.

Obviously you can't compare Germany to North Korea, but I hope something is done before something bad happens like a bomb going off in Seoul.

[Cryomaniac]

I think a legit and united military threat will deter NK from its Nuclear ambitions.

Agreed. Who knows we might actually get it.

[Derek Ortt]

I think a legit and united military threat will deter NK from its Nuclear ambitions.

if we do go to war against NK... we will be fighting until they surrender unconditionally

that means we will be bombing women and children, and losing 10's of thousands of soldiers

now is it worth it... I think so, given how they are funding much of the problems of the world (i.e. Israel having to take out their reactor in Syria)

[Cryomaniac]

if we do go to war against NK... we will be fighting until they surrender unconditionally

that means we will be bombing women and children, and losing 10's of thousands of soldiers

now is it worth it... I think so, given how they are funding much of the problems of the world (i.e. Israel having to take out their reactor in Syria)

As much as I would like to be in a position to disagree, I'm not.

[cycloneye]

North Korea tests two short range missiles


SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea fired two short-range missiles from its east coast Tuesday -- a day after conducting a nuclear test -- South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing a South Korean official.

"The North is continuing its saber-rattling," the unnamed official said.

The firings came a day after the reclusive communist state conducted a nuclear test and fired another short-range missile.

"We should be clear that these are short-range missiles. They are in the realm of anti-ship or anti-aircraft missiles, not missiles designed to target cities or other country population centers," said analyst Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group, which describes itself as an independent non-profit group committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiap ... index.html

[Nimbus]

From the story:

Rebecca Johnson, executive director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, told CNN that Kim "needs to demonstrate domestically that he is in charge."

"Doing the nuclear tests, firing a couple of missiles, is a way to do that -- perhaps the only way to do that -- because he can't feed the people," she said.

Sounds like a good time for a coup d’état. It might be hard to rein in the North Korean military leaders though, any coup would have to be initiated by one of their allies such as China.

[Dionne]

CNN is reporting that Russia has "suspended a Russia-North Korea intergovernmental and economic commission".....

Is it possible we now know where the missing nukes from the former USSR ended up?

[Frank2]

I'm old enough to remember most of the Cold War with the Soviets, so know what that was like, but, as dangerous as that was, the spread of nuclear weapons to even more violent nations is even worse - it was during the Nixon era that "Detente" became a popular way of doing business with the USSR, but countries like Iran and North Korea are not willing to follow this way of thinking...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9tente

Many prayers to God are needed before it is too late...

[Ed Mahmoud]

Nothing more than a strongly worded letter of condemnation from the UN.

Remember, although China likes to pretend it can't control its rogue neighbor, China or Russia use their veto power as permanent UN Security Council measures to ensure their allies Iran and North Korea are never really punished or threatened.


The UN is worthless, America pays about half the bills, and the majority of the UN General Assembly spends our tax dollars complaining about US imperialism. US out of the UN, UN out of the US.


Let the UN relocate to Paris, or better yet, someplace like Dar es Salaam.