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North Korea seen readying for new nuclear test

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  • North Korea seen readying for new nuclear test

    North Korea seen readying for new nuclear test


    SEOUL – There is increased activity at North Korea's known nuclear test site, a South Korean news report said on Thursday, suggesting Pyongyang is gearing up for a new test as it has threatened in response to tightened UN sanctions.

    Impoverished North Korea, whose only nuclear test in October 2006 led to UN financial and trade sanctions, could be ready to test another nuclear device in a matter of weeks, experts have said.

    "Underground nuclear tests are hard to predict and you can't tell when exactly a nuclear test would be possible, but we think the North is ready to conduct a test in a near future if it wants to," the Chosun Ilbo daily quoted a government source as saying.

    South Korean authorities are monitoring increased and steady activity at the Phunggye-ri site in the North Hamgyong province where the North conducted the 2006 test, the newspaper said.

    The North also appears to have stepped up construction at a new long-range missile launch site in the west that had been expected originally to be completed by the end of the year, the government source was quoted as saying.

    South Korea's Foreign Ministry and the spy agency declined to comment on the report.

    Last week, the North threatened a new nuclear test unless the UN Security Council apologized and withdrew the sanctions, tightened after it launched a long-range rocket in April.

    Analysts say North Korea wants to play out its test preparations, many of which can be seen by US spy satellites, for as long as possible to increase leverage in negotiations aimed at ending its efforts to build a nuclear arsenal.

    Talks among six countries, which also include South Korea, Japan, China and Russia, have been deadlocked over disagreement on how to inspect the North's nuclear arms program and how to compensate Pyongyang for dismantling it.

    Experts said the North's first nuclear test in 2006 was only a partial success because the strength of the blast was relatively low, indicating problems with the weapons design or the fissile material at its core.
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  • #2
    As usual, the Q&A of Reuters are good.

    Note the comments near the end, saying and explaining the threat of proliferation is real.

    Q+A - What's the real threat of North Korea's nuclear programme?

    7 May SEOUL (Reuters) - There is increased activity at North Korea's known nuclear test site, a South Korean news report said on Thursday, suggesting Pyongyang is gearing up for a new test as it has threatened in response to tightened U.N. sanctions.

    Following are some questions and answers about the secretive state's nuclear arms programme:

    WHAT IS NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS CAPABILITY?
    North Korea is thought to have produced enough plutonium for about six to eight weapons and has already produced one rudimentary nuclear device. It likely cannot miniaturise a nuclear weapon to mount on a missile ...And its Soviet-era bombers would not be able to evade the advanced air forces of the United States, Japan and South Korea to deliver a bomb, ...

    HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE THE NORTH TO CONDUCT A NUCLEAR TEST?
    Impoverished North Korea, whose only nuclear test in October 2006 led to U.N. sanctions, could be ready to test another nuclear device in a matter of weeks, experts said. Politically, North Korea wants to play out its test preparations, many of which can be seen by U.S. spy satellites, as long as possible to increase its leverage in negotiations. ....

    Experts said the North's only nuclear test was only a partial success because the strength of the blast was relatively low, .....

    WOULD THERE BE MORE THAN ONE?
    North Korea probably would only conduct one because it does not want to deplete its meagre plutonium stockpile. ....

    HOW BIG IS THE SECURITY THREAT?
    The North's nuclear arms programme is not a major security threat at present because it has not yet shown it can build an effective bomb, nor does it have an effective delivery system.

    The biggest security threats posed by the North come from its hundreds of mid-range missiles that can hit all of South Korea and most of Japan as well as its artillery batteries posted close to its border with the South. ....

    WHAT ARE NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR FACILITIES?
    The heart of the North's nuclear arms programme is the Yongbyon nuclear plant, located about 100 km (60 miles) north of the capital Pyongyang. Its key facilities are a plant that makes nuclear fuel, an antiquated reactor that burns the fuel and a plant that separates plutonium from spent fuel. ...

    WILL DIPLOMACY WORK TO END THE NORTH'S NUCLEAR PROGRAMME?
    Probably not.

    North Korea for years has used its military threat to squeeze concessions from global powers and experts doubt it will give up its biggest card while leader Kim Jong-il is in charge. ....

    HOW BIG OF A THREAT IS PROLIFERATION?
    The proliferation threat is real. The United States, under former President George W. Bush, suspected the North aided Syria in developing a nuclear programme.

    Even though the North's nuclear arms programme is based on what experts consider outdated technology, cash-strapped North Korea has mastered the nuclear fuel cycle and could sell its nuclear expertise to states aiming to make plutonium for weapons.
    Last edited by Merlin; 07 May 09,, 10:50.

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