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North
Korea Declares Nuclear Test |
Posted:
10.09.06
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The secretive communist nation North Korea announced Monday that
it had detonated its first nuclear test, drawing condemnation
from the international community.
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North Korea announced the nuclear test via its official Korean
Central News Agency out of the capital Pyongyang.
 "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," the agency said
in a statement.
As one of the world's poorest and most isolated countries, North
Korea might have conducted the nuclear test as a way to show it
has power in the region, Asian experts say.
Although American officials have not confirmed the test, the
U.S. Geological Survey registered a seismic event equivalent to
a magnitude 4.2 earthquake.
President Bush warned that North Korea's action "constitutes
a threat to international peace and security." He called
on the U.N. Security Council to take immediate action.
The president also warned North Korea not to share its nuclear
knowledge with other states or terrorist groups.
"The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea
to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat
to the United States and we would hold North Korea fully accountable
for consequences of such action," he said.
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North Korea's
nuclear history |
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North Korea's test is just the latest in an ongoing standoff
with the rest of the world.
U.S. satellites first detected nuclear reactors in the country
in the early 1980s.
By 1994, the United States had brokered a deal with the nation
to stop its nuclear program in exchange for much-needed food aid.
But that agreement eventually broke down after North Korea revealed
a secret nuclear weapons program in 2002.
It was during the 2002 State of the Union Address that President
Bush called North Korea one part of the "axis of evil,"
along with Iran and Iraq.
 In
2003, North Korea announced that it was withdrawing from the nuclear
nonproliferation treaty, a global agreement meant to stop the
spread of nuclear weapons. The United States responded that it
would not "tolerate" a nuclear-armed North Korea.
In the past three years, tensions between North Korea and other
countries continued to escalate.
In July, North Korea test-fired up to seven missiles, including
at least one long-range ballistic missile, upsetting the international
community again.
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The world's
reaction |
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North Korea's enemies and allies alike condemned the nuclear
test announcement.
China, the communist country's closet supporter, called it a
"flagrant and brazen" violation of international opinion
and said it "firmly opposes" North Korea's conduct.
In Russia, which shares a short border with North Korea, President
Vladimir Putin said his country "absolutely condemns North
Korea's nuclear test."
 South
Korea, which has been separated from North Korea for more than
50 years and maintains an uneasy truce with the communist nation
following a civil war, criticized the test.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said his country's response
will be "stern but fair."
Shinzo Abe, the newly elected prime minister of Japan, said that
North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons "greatly threatens
the northeast Asian region" and the world.
"We are now in a new era of nuclear threat," said Abe,
who is visiting South Korea for the first time. "This North
Korean nuclear test is a great challenge to us, and the international
community must take a firm stand on this challenge."
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Possible
responses |
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At an emergency meeting Monday, the United Nations called on
North Korea to return to six-party talks about its weapons program.
In recent months, North Korea had boycotted such talks, preferring
to deal one-on-one with the United States, not with a larger group
of regional neighbors including: China, Russia, South Korea and
Japan.
 John
Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said he would
push for a Security Council resolution that would include a halt
to oil deliveries, as well as inspection of all cargo going in
and out of the country to prevent the distribution of weapons
of mass destruction.
If the test is confirmed, North Korea would become the eighth
country to develop nuclear weapons despite efforts to limit proliferation
beyond the five Security Council powers -- Britain, France, Russia,
China and the United States -- which acquired them in the 1940s
and 1950s.
India and Pakistan conducted tests in 1998. Israel is generally
thought to have weapons, even though it has not acknowledged conducting
a test or possessing a weapon.
--Compiled
by Annie Schleicher for NewsHour Extra
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