North Korea calls 3rd nuclear test a 'first response to US threats'
Source: Agencies |
February 13, 2013, Wednesday
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DEFYING UN warnings, North Korea yesterday conducted its third nuclear test in the remote, snowy northeast, taking a crucial step toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of striking the United States.
North Korea said the atomic test was merely its "first response" to what it called US threats, and said it will continue with unspecified "second and third measures of greater intensity" if Washington maintains its hostility.
Its foreign ministry said the nuclear test was a "self-defensive measure" that did not violate any international law.
The underground test, which set off powerful seismic waves, drew immediate condemnation from the United Nations, Washington and others.
The test was a defiant response to UN orders to shut down atomic activity or face more sanctions and international isolation. It will likely draw more sanctions from the United States and other countries.
US President Barack Obama said nuclear tests "do not make North Korea more secure." Instead, North Korea has "increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction."
Several UN resolutions bar North Korea from conducting nuclear or missile tests because the UN Security Council considers Pyongyang a would-be proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its nuclear testing a threat to international peace and stability.
North Korea dismisses that as a double standard, and claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, which has been seen as enemy No. 1 since the 1950-53 Korean War. The US stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to protect its ally.
Yesterday's test was North Korea's first since Kim Jong Un took power. The test was conducted in a safe and perfect way on a high level, with the use of a smaller and light A-bomb, unlike the previous ones, yet with great explosive power," North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said.
In Pyongyang, where it was snowing yesterday, North Koreans gathered around televisions to watch a 3pm TV broadcast announcing the nuclear test.
The test shows the world that North Korea is a "nuclear weapons state that no one can irritate," Kim Mun Chol, a 42-year-old Pyongyang citizen, said. "Now we have nothing to be afraid of in the world."
The National Intelligence Service in Seoul told lawmakers that North Korea may conduct an additional nuclear test and test-launch a ballistic missile in response to UN talks about imposing more sanctions. Analysts have also previously speculated that Pyongyang might conduct multiple tests, possibly of plutonium and uranium devices.
North Korea is estimated to have enough weaponized plutonium for four to eight bombs, according to nuclear experts.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the device exploded yesterday was small enough to fit on a missile, and whether it was fueled by plutonium or highly enriched uranium.
In 2006, and 2009, North Korea is believed to have tested devices made of plutonium. But in 2010, Pyongyang revealed a program to enrich uranium, which would give the country a second source of bomb-making materials - a worrying development for the US and its allies.
Monitoring stations in South Korea detected an earthquake in North Korea with a magnitude of 4.9, corresponding to an estimated explosive yield of 6-7 kilotons.
North Korea said the atomic test was merely its "first response" to what it called US threats, and said it will continue with unspecified "second and third measures of greater intensity" if Washington maintains its hostility.
Its foreign ministry said the nuclear test was a "self-defensive measure" that did not violate any international law.
The underground test, which set off powerful seismic waves, drew immediate condemnation from the United Nations, Washington and others.
The test was a defiant response to UN orders to shut down atomic activity or face more sanctions and international isolation. It will likely draw more sanctions from the United States and other countries.
US President Barack Obama said nuclear tests "do not make North Korea more secure." Instead, North Korea has "increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction."
Several UN resolutions bar North Korea from conducting nuclear or missile tests because the UN Security Council considers Pyongyang a would-be proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its nuclear testing a threat to international peace and stability.
North Korea dismisses that as a double standard, and claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, which has been seen as enemy No. 1 since the 1950-53 Korean War. The US stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to protect its ally.
Yesterday's test was North Korea's first since Kim Jong Un took power. The test was conducted in a safe and perfect way on a high level, with the use of a smaller and light A-bomb, unlike the previous ones, yet with great explosive power," North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said.
In Pyongyang, where it was snowing yesterday, North Koreans gathered around televisions to watch a 3pm TV broadcast announcing the nuclear test.
The test shows the world that North Korea is a "nuclear weapons state that no one can irritate," Kim Mun Chol, a 42-year-old Pyongyang citizen, said. "Now we have nothing to be afraid of in the world."
The National Intelligence Service in Seoul told lawmakers that North Korea may conduct an additional nuclear test and test-launch a ballistic missile in response to UN talks about imposing more sanctions. Analysts have also previously speculated that Pyongyang might conduct multiple tests, possibly of plutonium and uranium devices.
North Korea is estimated to have enough weaponized plutonium for four to eight bombs, according to nuclear experts.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the device exploded yesterday was small enough to fit on a missile, and whether it was fueled by plutonium or highly enriched uranium.
In 2006, and 2009, North Korea is believed to have tested devices made of plutonium. But in 2010, Pyongyang revealed a program to enrich uranium, which would give the country a second source of bomb-making materials - a worrying development for the US and its allies.
Monitoring stations in South Korea detected an earthquake in North Korea with a magnitude of 4.9, corresponding to an estimated explosive yield of 6-7 kilotons.
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