NORTH KOREA CONDUCTS NUCLEAR TEST

N. Korea tests nuclear weapon at Hwadaeri near Kilju:Defense Ministry


By Sohn Suk-joo and Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is believed to have carried out its first-ever nuclear weapon test in the eastern part of the country Monday morning, a South Korean defense source said.

"We detected the explosive sound from Hwadaeri near Kilju in North Hamgyong Province at 10:36 a.m.(KST)," a senior Defense Ministry official said, asking to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the information.

Officials from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said the test appears to have been conducted at a mountain close to a missile test site from where the communist state launched seven ballistic missiles in early July.

"We believe a nuclear test was conducted around 10:36 a.m. this morning and the (suspected) location of the test is about 30 kilometers away from Punggye-ri in Kilju" which intelligence officials had previously suspected to be a possible test site, an official from the state spy agency was quoted as telling the National Assembly Intelligence Committee.

"We believe the test was conducted under a mountain with an altitude of 360 meters," the NIS official was quoted by Rep. Chung Hyung-keun of the opposition Grand National Party as saying.

Considering the low altitude of the mountain, the intelligence office believes the nuclear test was conducted inside a horizontal tube instead of a vertically-dug tunnel, according to Chung.

South Korea's military raised its readiness against possible aggression by increasing the number of troops near land and sea borders, but it has yet to raise its alert level beyond usual defense situations, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The troops are still maintaining a Watchcon 3 surveillance status and Defcon 4 defense readiness status.

"We have yet to detect unusual military movement in North Korea so far. South Korea and the U.S. are closely working together to share intelligence," said Col. Ha Doo-chul, spokesman for the JCS.

When tensions rise and provocative acts take place, the alert status is upgraded. In war, it is raised to Watchcon 1 and Defcon 1.

In June 1999, when a naval battle between South and North Korea took place, the first of its kind since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, South Korean forces were put on a Watchcon 2 surveillance status and Defcon 3 defense posture.

Text of North Korea's Nuke Announcement
Oct 08 11:40 PM US/Eastern

The field of scientific research in the DPRK successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions on October 9, 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 as 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 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."

U.S. agencies looking into N. Korea test

By Katherine Shrader, Associated Press Writer | October 9, 2006

WASHINGTON --U.S. government officials said Sunday that a wide range of agencies were looking into the report of a North Korean nuclear test.

The officials, speaking anonymously because of the political sensitivity of the situation, said the U.S. was taking the reports seriously.

North Korea said Monday that it had performed its first-ever nuclear test. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the test was conducted at 9:36 p.m. EDT Sunday.

A White House official said administration officials have not been able to confirm the report independently, but are trying to learn more about it.

U.S. intelligence has been closely watching several sites in North Korea that could be used for a nuclear test. Movements of people, automobiles, fencing and other items convinced some analysts last week that a test could come soon. Guest quarters overlooking one site were also of interest.

Over the last week, U.S. officials have been anticipating news of a nuclear weapons test in North Korea.

"It would be a very provocative act by the North Koreans," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday. "A North Korean nuclear test ... would create a qualitatively different situation on the Korean peninsula. I think that you would see that a number of states in the region would need to reassess where they are now with North Korea."

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top U.S. negotiator on the communist country's nuclear program, said Thursday that if North Korea conducted a nuclear test, "We would have no choice but to act and act resolutely to make sure (North Korea) understood, and make sure every other country in the world understands, that this is a very bad mistake."

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday that a successful North Korean nuclear weapon test would show weakness on the part of the international community.

"And that failure ... is something that the international community would have to register and ask itself how comfortable are we being that ineffective in this situation," Rumsfeld said.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Tuesday that a North Korean test "would be contrary to the interests of all of North Korea's neighbors and to peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region."

The U.N. Security Council urged North Korea on Friday to cancel the planned nuclear test and return immediately to talks on scrapping its nuclear weapons program, saying that exploding such a device would threaten international peace and security.

A statement adopted unanimously by the council expressed "deep concern" over North Korea's announcement.

The U.S. and its allies have been trying to lure North Korea back to stalled international efforts to persuade Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear weapons program.

The North has pushed for direct talks with the United States, something Washington says it will not do outside the framework of the stalled six-nation talks. The North has refused to return to the disarmament talks because of U.S. financial restrictions imposed for its alleged illegal activity, including money laundering and counterfeiting.

Many experts believe the North has enough radioactive material to build at least a half-dozen or more nuclear weapons.

UN not commenting on nuclear test

From correspondents at the UN
October 09, 2006 02:41pm

THE United Nations has no immediate comment on news that North Korea has conducted its first nuclear weapons test, a spokeswoman said early today.

"We have not received any information from the Security Council. We have no comment," said duty officer Fang Chen.

The communist state's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) earlier announced that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test safely and successfully and there was no radiation leak.

The 15-member Security Council was expected to hold an emergency meeting on the North Korean test later Monday.

Last Friday, it unanimously adopted a non-binding statement expressing "deep concern" over Pyongyang's plan to go ahead with a test and made it clear that such a move "would represent a clear threat to international peace and security."

Whatever else may come of this - and plenty surely will - we may expect a major shift the headline cycle.

China criticizes ally's test
The Associated Press

Published: October 9, 2006


BEIJING China on Monday slammed North Korea for carrying out a nuclear test, openly criticizing its ally's nuclear program for the first time and demanding that Pyongyang return to disarmament talks.

"China expresses its resolute opposition" to the test, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on its Web site. It complained that the North "defied the universal opposition of international society" by conducting the test.

The five-sentence statement made no mention of possible Chinese sanctions or any other official response.

But it was the most strongly worded Chinese reaction to date to the North's nuclear program and dropped the conciliatory tone of Beijing's previous statements.

"China strongly demands that North Korea abide by its non-nuclear pledge and avoid any other actions that further worsen the situation, and return to the track of the six-party talks," the statement said.

It appealed to all governments in the dispute over the North's nuclear program to stay calm and pursue a negotiated settlement.

Beijing has organized multiple rounds of international disarmament talks on the North's nuclear program. But they have been stalled since late 2005 over Pyongyang's opposition to U.S. financial sanctions imposed on North Korean companies accused of counterfeiting and other offenses.

Other participants in the talks are the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

Beijing is the impoverished North's main source of food and fuel aid, and is under intense U.S. pressure to use its leverage to get Pyongyang to return to the talks.

But analysts say Beijing is reluctant to push the North too hard for fear of causing leader Kim Jong Il's regime to collapse, sending a flood of refugees into China and upsetting the region's military balance.

The North carried out the test despite a direct, public appeal from Beijing last Wednesday to stay calm and show restraint.

The North also defied public Chinese appeals in July when it test-fired missiles.

BEIJING China on Monday slammed North Korea for carrying out a nuclear test, openly criticizing its ally's nuclear program for the first time and demanding that Pyongyang return to disarmament talks.

"China expresses its resolute opposition" to the test, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on its Web site. It complained that the North "defied the universal opposition of international society" by conducting the test.

The five-sentence statement made no mention of possible Chinese sanctions or any other official response.

But it was the most strongly worded Chinese reaction to date to the North's nuclear program and dropped the conciliatory tone of Beijing's previous statements.

"China strongly demands that North Korea abide by its non-nuclear pledge and avoid any other actions that further worsen the situation, and return to the track of the six-party talks," the statement said.

It appealed to all governments in the dispute over the North's nuclear program to stay calm and pursue a negotiated settlement.

Beijing has organized multiple rounds of international disarmament talks on the North's nuclear program. But they have been stalled since late 2005 over Pyongyang's opposition to U.S. financial sanctions imposed on North Korean companies accused of counterfeiting and other offenses.

Other participants in the talks are the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

Beijing is the impoverished North's main source of food and fuel aid, and is under intense U.S. pressure to use its leverage to get Pyongyang to return to the talks.

But analysts say Beijing is reluctant to push the North too hard for fear of causing leader Kim Jong Il's regime to collapse, sending a flood of refugees into China and upsetting the region's military balance.

The North carried out the test despite a direct, public appeal from Beijing last Wednesday to stay calm and show restraint.

The North also defied public Chinese appeals in July when it test-fired missiles.

China denounces "brazen" North Korea nuclear test
Mon 9 Oct 2006 6:06:53 BST

BEIJING, Oct 9 (Reuters) - China said on Monday it firmly opposed North Korea's nuclear test, denouncing it as "brazen" in unusually strong language, and demanded Pyongyang stop any action that could worsen the situation.

China also urged North Korea to return to six-party talks it has hosted aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear programmes. The talks, which have been stalled for nearly a year, also group South Korea, Japan, the United States and Russia.

"The DPRK has ignored the widespread opposition of the international community and conducted a nuclear test brazenly on Oct. 9," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn).

The DPRK is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

"The Chinese government is firmly opposed to this," the Foreign Ministry said.

The statement used language that was unusually forceful for China, a neighbour and traditional Communist ally of North Korea that has advocated engagement and dialogue over stronger moves such as sanctions.

"The Chinese side strongly demands the North Korean side to abide by its pledges on denuclearisation and to stop any action that would worsen the situation," it said.

"Preserving peace and stability in northeast Asia accords with the joint interests of all sides. The Chinese government calls on all sides to respond calmly, and upholds a peaceful resolution through negotiation and dialogue."

The 15-member Security Council was expected to hold an emergency meeting on the North Korean test later Monday.

Last Friday, it unanimously adopted a non-binding statement expressing "deep concern" over Pyongyang's plan to go ahead with a test and made it clear that such a move "would represent a clear threat to international peace and security."

North Korea's military activity remains quiet after nuclear bomb test

09.10.2006 Source: URL: http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/84927-nuclear-0

North Korea has not shown any unusual military activity after declaring it tested a nuclear bomb, South Korea said Monday after putting its military on higher alert and boosting efforts to determine if there was any radioactive fallout from the test.

"No particular movement has been detected in the North Korean military both in the front and the rear," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said it put the South's military on higher alert and was closely watching the communist state for any signs of provocation.

"The South and the U.S. are maintaining a joint readiness under a joint crisis management system," it said. "As part of efforts to strengthen surveillance and readiness, we're increasing patrols near the border ... and all heads of military units were ordered to keep their posts."

It also said the military was also stepping up efforts to see if there is any radioactive fallout from the test, the AP said.

Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung will hold a meeting of senior military commanders on Tuesday to assess the situation and to discuss a contingency plan, it said.

North Korea said earlier in the day that it carried out its first-ever nuclear bomb test.

Taiwan on Monday expressed fears that North Korea's nuclear test could trigger an arms race and undermine regional security.
"The government of the Republic of China fears the nuclear test might trigger an arms race and proliferation of nuclear weapons, thus undermining the security and welfare of people in the northeast Asian region," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Michel Lu said.

Taiwan also called for a peaceful resolution of the crisis by reopening six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

Pyongyang in November 2005 pulled out of the talks aimed at persuading it to abandon its nuclear weapons programme.