North Korea to test a nuclear weapon

Dub13

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5403572.stm

N Korea warned over nuclear test

A North Korean nuclear test would be a "provocative act", US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said.
Speaking in Cairo, she said the US would have to assess its options should North Korea's threat be carried out.

North Korea did not give a date for its test, which was announced on state TV, but said it would boost security in the face of US military hostility.

Japan, South Korea and Russia, who have been involved in six-party talks with Pyongyang, have also expressed concern.

And a spokesman for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said a test would only provoke universal condemnation and do nothing towards strengthening North Korea's security.

The US and China have also been part of the talks, which have been stalled for a year.

China, one of North Korea's few allies, has called for fresh multi-party negotiations.

The Chinese have, like the South Koreans, been advocating quiet diplomacy in efforts to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme, but both countries joined in condemning ballistic missile tests it conducted in the Sea of Japan earlier this year.

The latest announcement from Pyongyang is bound to put both Beijing and Seoul under renewed pressure to take a tougher line, BBC East Asia regional editor Clare Harkey says.

She adds that a nuclear test by North Korea, with its crumbling infrastructure and struggling economy, would also raise fears on safety grounds.

'Grave threat'

The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said he would be raising the nuclear issue with the Security Council and hoped for a strong response similar to the one following missile tests.

"Given the very strong action by the council in July in condemning the North Korean ballistic missile tests, I think it's important that we're prepared to follow up here," he said.

But China said it would be better to revive the six-nation talks, which stalled almost a year ago.

"If the six-party talks cannot do anything about it, I don't think the Council is in a [position] to do it," China's envoy to the UN, Wang Guangya, told reporters.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the nuclear test plans were unacceptable and would be met "harshly".

South Korea's government held emergency talks and heightened its security alert.

North Korea is thought to have developed a handful of warheads but never before announced it would test one.

US and South Korean reports suggest the North has at least one underground test site.

The North appears increasingly angry at sanctions imposed by the US and other countries on North Korean businesses accused of arms sales and illegal activities.

In 2002, it restarted its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon and forced two UN nuclear monitors to leave the country.

It is unclear how far work has progressed at the plant since then.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you "test" a nuke?
Surely there's going to be some fallout or lasting damage/contamination somewhere? o_O

joebhoy1916

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you "test" a nuke?
Surely there's going to be some fallout or lasting damage/contamination somewhere? o_O

Same way America, Russia, france every other country tests them.

No point in having something if you dont know if it works.

ButcherOfNog

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you "test" a nuke?

Underground

Giblet

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you "test" a nuke?
Surely there's going to be some fallout or lasting damage/contamination somewhere? o_O

The nuke is detonated underground, this creates a giant void in which the walls are superheated, containing the radiation which then collapses creating a crater above ground.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Thanks for the enlightenment guys... I was picturing the old reel footage of mushroom clouds etc. :eek:

Manic Moran

joebhoy1916 wrote:

No point in having something if you dont know if it works.

I don't think Israel has tested theirs yet, have they? Besides, it's the fear of them being used that's their main strength. Israel's may not work, but would you like to volunteer to be the test subject?

NTM

"I do not like this word "bomb." It is not a bomb. It is a device that is exploding."
French ambassador to New Zealand Jacques le Blanc, regarding press coverage of France's nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific

Moriarty

Manic Moran wrote:

I don't think Israel has tested theirs yet, have they?

They (or the south africans) might have - Vela Incident.

Dub13

South Korea warns North against nuclear test
05/10/2006 - 11:42:05



South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has ordered his government to send a “grave warning” to North Korea about the consequences of a threatened nuclear weapons test.

Roh also ordered the government to draw up a “contingency plan” if the nuclear stand-off with North Korea worsened, Yonhap news agency reported in Seoul, citing unidentified presidential staff.

At the same time, Roh instructed the South Korean government to step up diplomatic efforts to forestall a North Korean test, the report said.

Roh’s orders came after a meeting with his top security adviser, according to Yonhap.

joebhoy1916

Manic Moran wrote:

I don't think Israel has tested theirs yet, have they? Besides, it's the fear of them being used that's their main strength. Israel's may not work, but would you like to volunteer to be the test subject?

Did I say they did?

Sure even if they didnt work there friends would judt give them more if they ever needed them :rolleyes: but thats another topic.

I hope it's not underground I wanna see it on tv.


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2046393742348211186&q=nuclear+bomb

Dub13

Things are heating up in Korea....

Shots fired amid Korean tension

South Korean troops have fired warning shots at soldiers from the North amid rising tension over North Korean plans to test a nuclear weapon.Early reports suggest that about 40 shots were fired when soldiers crossed into the demilitarised zone.


Full story Here

Manic Moran

Business as usual in Korea, then. That sort of thing happens all the time, it usually doesn't make the news unless it's pretty dramatic (Such as the naval battle a couple of years ago, or the attack on the Blue House), or if there's an important backstory.

Apparently the bomb in question is too big to fit on any missile that the North currently has, it's more or less WWII dimensioned and is estimated by the Russians at 20kt.

NTM

komsomol

20kt... jasuz thats barely a tactical nuke.

Manic Moran

Well, that's that then. The topic title is wrong, should read "North Korea has tested a nuke"

NTM

testicle

I suspect, knowing the North Koreans, that they said they were testing a nuclear device, and then dug a hole in the ground and detonated a lot of conventional explosives in it.

TerrorFirmer

Anyone forecast SK, Japans and the rest of the worlds reaction?

Nothing so far but a verbal slap on the wrist from the UK....

Dub13

HavoK wrote:

Anyone forecast SK, Japans and the rest of the worlds reaction?

Nothing so far but a verbal slap on the wrist from the UK....

The White House said the reported test was a "provocative act", while China denounced it as "brazen".

Seoul say they will react "sternly and calmly".

Japan's Prime Minister called the claimed test "unpardonable" and said the region was "entering a new, dangerous nuclear age".

Dub13

testicle wrote:

I suspect, knowing the North Koreans, that they said they were testing a nuclear device, and then dug a hole in the ground and detonated a lot of conventional explosives in it.

"Russian military experts" are saying that the bomb has a yield of 20 kilotons.I am no expert but its my understanding that there is a different "signature" to the two types of explosion.

TerrorFirmer

It will be extremely interesting to see what SK has in response to this.

What more can the rest of the world do, apart from the initial verbal condemings....I certainly don't foresee anything truly notable happening, already severe sanctions in place and other then this I don't see what the likes of the UN can accomplish to punish effectively "punish" NK

Dub13

They fear a de-stabilized nuclear North Korea more than a nuclear North Korea,so it will be interesting to see what was this plays out.


Also the device is not yet a weapon in the sense that it is not married to a delivery system.

Mick86

Dub13 wrote:

Also the device is not yet a weapon in the sense that it is not married to a delivery system.

It's married to a bunch of fruitcakes. That's bad enough.

Dub13

Japan has dispatched three T-4 supersonic aircraft to waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula to monitor radiation levels, the Defence Agency said.

The aircraft will collect air samples at an altitude of about 9,000 feet which will be analysed for radioactivity, according to an agency official.

The planes are also scheduled to fly tomorrow and about once a day after that, he said.

Dub13

Here are the Details according to the U.S. Geological Survey.


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

Dub13

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/10/17/story281279.html

UN sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear test are a declaration of war, and the country will “mercilessly strike” if the nation’s sovereignty is violated, the North’s central government said today in its first response to the UN measures.

The North’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency that the country wanted peace, but it was not afraid of war.

The North “vehemently denounces the resolution, a product of the US hostile policy toward (the North) and totally refutes it,” the statement said.

“The resolution cannot be construed otherwise than a declaration of a war” against the North, it said.

The country warned that if anyone used the UN resolution to infringe on the country’s sovereignty, “it will deal merciless blows at him through strong actions”.

The UN sanctions, passed on Saturday, ban the sale of major arms to the North and orders the inspection of cargo to and from the country. It also calls for the freezing of assets of business supplying the North’s nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes.

The North “will closely follow the future US attitude and take corresponding measures”, the statement said, without specifying what those measures would be.

Dub13

I cannot see China tolerating this clown and his henchmen now that the regime has turned on the hand that feeds them.

I am also sure that the Iranian leadership will be watching this VERY closely,Mr Bush is going to have an interesting last couple of years in power.

mick72

The Yanks are ****ting, haha....Im sure if it wasn't for the nuclear weapons, they would have bombed N Korea by now

Manic Moran

mick72 wrote:

The Yanks are ****ting, haha....Im sure if it wasn't for the [strike]nuclear weapons[/strike] Chinese, they would have bombed N Korea by now

Fixed it for you.

NTM

joebhoy1916

mick72 wrote:

The Yanks are ****ting, haha....Im sure if it wasn't for the nuclear weapons, they would have bombed N Korea by now

Good point, but you have to remember there already in two countries, another the south of Korea have good ties with America :rolleyes: if America attacked the north that would mean the south would be involved they have alot of troops there. The north is only 80 miles from the capital of the south and the north have it's believed ten's of thousands of weapons that can hit the capital if the south. They say if war ever broke out there would be 200,000 dead in first week alone in the south.

So to be honest war would never happen unless they used a nuke or something on another country.

Funny how America were the one's who started this by stopping the agreement made. Now there throwing stuff at them to give it up.