North Korea confirms third nuclear test

[Bosonic]

Source: BBC

North Korea says it has successfully carried out its third underground nuclear test, a move that has drawn international condemnation.

Pyongyang said the test involved a "miniaturised" device and was carried out in a "perfect manner".

The confirmation came three hours after seismic activity was detected at North Korea's nuclear test site.

US President Barack Obama called for "swift" and "credible" international action in response.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21421841

[Prog_gun_owner]

1. Well this kinda makes the whole Iran thing kinda silly.

[davidpdx]

3. That's why I've said repeatedly the US needs to do more in terms of North Korea

Most of the resources are used for the Middle East while people starve in North Korea.

[Franker65]

2. A swift and credible international action in response?

I guess that involves telling North Korea that 'they're very bad and shouldn't conduct a fourth test' and that will be it. Sanctions won't work as the people are already starving and bombing them won't accomplish much either.

[davidpdx]

4. Yep

And we all know what China's response will be. It's almost comical how stiff armed they behave when it comes to North Korea. I think I'm going to start calling it the Gilligan Syndrome.

[oberliner]

6. What action would you recommend?

Since sanctions and/or bombing wont work, what would you suggest?

[Hugabear]

12. Maybe stop our aggressive stance, and try for open relations for a change?

Sign a peace treaty with North Korea, and finally put an official end to the Korean War.

End all sanctions, establish diplomatic relations, and encourage trade.

It's obvious the current policies aren't working. Instead of trying to isolate and punish NK, how about trying a friendlier approach?

[oberliner]

13. A friendlier approach with a brutal dictator?

That seems not to be the most honorable of actions.

[daleo]

14. It's been done before

Many, many, many times. Honour has nothing to do with it.

[oberliner]

15. Indeed it has

Often with disastrous results.

[davidpdx]

5. Well that pretty much says it all

Usually Americans here in South Korea get an email from the US Embassy in Seoul right after it happens, but we haven't gotten on yet. My guess it will be tomorrow.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

9. i remember getting them when i lived in Suwon.

Now all i get are air quality ones about beijing, even though i live nowhere near beijing.

[pampango]

7. NYT: Nuclear Test Poses Big Challenge to China’s New Leader

The nuclear test by North Korea on Tuesday, in defiance of warnings by China, leaves the new Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, with a choice: Does he upset North Korea just a bit by agreeing to stepped up United Nations sanctions, or does he rattle the regime by pulling the plug on infusions of Chinese oil and investments that keep North Korea afloat?

The test poses a major foreign policy challenge to Mr. Xi, the new head of the Communist Party, who has said he wants the United States and China to develop a “new type of relationship between two great powers.” How Mr. Xi deals with North Korea in the coming period could tell the United States what kind of leader he will be, and what kind of relationship he envisions with Washington.

To improve the strained relationship with the United States, Mr. Xi could start with getting tougher on North Korea, harnessing China’s clout with the outlier government to help slow down its nuclear program. If Mr. Xi does not help in curbing the North Koreans, he will almost certainly face accelerated ballistic missile defense efforts by the United States in Northeast Asia, especially with Japan, an unpalatable situation for China.

But if Mr. Xi took the measures against North Korea that the United States wants, Chinese and American analysts say, Mr. Xi would risk destabilizing North Korea, spurring its collapse and pushing the creation of a unified Korean Peninsula that could well turn out to be an American ally. An American controlled Korean Peninsula is not an option for Mr. Xi , the analysts agree.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/world/asia/north-korea-nuclear-test-poses-challenge-to-chinas-xi-jinping.html

If China does anything concrete to North Korea, it will be a great surprise. The new prime minister in China appears interested in acting in a more nationalistic manner. Of course, it is more likely that Xi will see the "nationalist" option to be continued propping up of the NK royal family even if they occasionally act 'irrationally'.

[FailureToCommunicate]

8. David Sanger- NYT: "North Korea Confirms It Conducted 3rd Nuclear Test"

WASHINGTON — North Korea confirmed on Tuesday that it had conducted its third, long-threatened nuclear test, according to the official KCNA news service, posing a new challenge for the Obama administration in its effort to keep the country from becoming a full-fledged nuclear power.

The KCNA said it used a “miniaturized and lighter nuclear device with greater explosive force than previously” and that the test “did not pose any negative impact on the surrounding ecological environment.

Preliminary estimates by South Korea suggested the test was much more powerful than the previous two conducted by the North.

-snip-

It may take days or weeks to determine independently if the test, was successful. American officials will also be looking for signs of whether the North, for the first time, conducted a test of a uranium weapon, based on a uranium enrichment capability it has been pursuing for a decade. The past two tests used plutonium, reprocessed from one of the country’s now-defunct nuclear reactors. While the country has only enough plutonium for a half-dozen or so bombs, it can produce enriched uranium well into the future.



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/world/asia/north-korea-nuclear-test.html?hp

That last graph contains the most troubling part of the report...

[slackmaster]

10. Because producing a nuclear weapon is so much more important than feeding your people

[onehandle]

11. Thank you, Dick Cheney. Talk about a weak link in our security. nt