North Korea conducts underground nuclear test

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 May 2009 05:54

The risks of North Korea's nuclear restart

Taking all of these factors into account, the best North Korea could do is to separate approximately 8 kilograms of bomb-grade plutonium by October 2009 and produce at most another 6 kilograms of plutonium per year for the next two to four years with its existing stocks of fresh fuel. This fuel would have to be reprocessed to be turned into bomb fuel. In the mean time, it could refurbish the fuel fabrication facility completely and continue this cycle for many years to come. North Korea has the material and manpower to do so. The only way North Korea could increase this rate of plutonium production is to build bigger gas-graphite reactors.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 May 2009 05:57

Japan Should Consider Pre-emptive Strikes, LDP Lawmaker Says

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 May 2009 06:25

Halfbright and Grand Ayatollah Sokolski
link

"They're learning and they're getting there," agreed David Albright, a former nuclear inspector and president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank. "They're not anywhere as good as Israel but they could probably deploy a weapon on top of a Nodong missile and be fairly confident that it would work."

link

"This is a multikiloton blast of reality," said Henry Sokolski, a member of the bipartisan US Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism. "We've been in denial and this should be a wakeup call. Trying to keep them from being a nuclear power is not going to happen."

link

First, the U.S. should make a serious effort to persuade like-minded states with missile defenses that they should develop a much more reliable capability to shoot down nuclear-capable missiles fired by NPT-violating states — i.e., states that are in noncompliance with their NPT obligations or that have withdrawn before coming into full compliance with them.

Second, the U.S. should exploit current concerns that “peaceful” space-launch vehicles and long-range ballistic missiles are interchangeable.

Finally, the U.S. should urge members of the MTCR to start restricting the transfer of missile-defense countermeasures — e.g., re-entry decoys, post-boost vehicles, jamming radars, chaff, re-entry stealth technology, maneuvering re-entry vehicles, and software and data closely related to any of these items.

Tilak · Post by **Tilak** » 27 May 2009 06:30

Antinuclear Effort Grows
South Korea Embraces U.S.-Led Move to Halt Proliferation After North's Tests

South Korea's full entry into the effort called the Proliferation Security Initiative means that it will play a bigger role in enforcement to prevent the North from selling weapons and related technology to other countries or terror groups.

The PSI issue has been at the center of diplomatic jockeying between the two Koreas since the North began preparing in February for its latest round of weapons tests.

South Korean officials publicly discussed upgrading the country's status in PSI from "observer" to "full participant" in March, saying it would take the step if the North followed through on its threats at the time to test a long-range missile.

North Korea responded on March 29 with a statement deriding PSI as a "mechanism for aggression set up by the U.S. and its followers to apply sanctions and stifle those countries incurring their displeasure." It added it would consider South Korea's participation in it "a declaration of war and take a resolute countermeasure against it."

South Korean officials formally decided to take the step a few days after North Korea's April 5 test of a multistage missile. Just as they were to make a formal announcement, Pyongyang offered to hold the first inter-Korean talks in nearly a year.

The inter-Korean meeting, held on April 21, lasted just 20 minutes as North Korean officials demanded more money for a joint industrial complex in the border city of Kaesong and refused to discuss other matters.

After North Korea tested a nuclear device on Monday, South Korean officials decided to wait no longer, an official in the South's foreign ministry said. He acknowledged Pyongyang's meeting maneuver had delayed it earlier but declined to discuss specifics.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 May 2009 06:54

World powerless to stop North Korea

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 27 May 2009 07:36

ramana wrote:The IUCNA deal was for a post-NPT world keeping the earlier framework/structures intact. This NoKo test is with PRC guidance/connivance as it creates chaos for US which has both hands full with Af-Pak and Iraq and Iran in the air. So toss one more ball to the juggler. Having tossed the ball it can be withdrawn as the juggler cries uncle. This test doesn't enable NoKo nuclearization (this is enabled by PRC onlee). All it does is shows the dark side can toss a ball which can be withdrawn for the right price.

Most likely US response will be to strenghten NPT process/framework. Which means in effect India takes a hit and the IUCNA is on the bcak burner.

My thoughts too. India will be the default target, as it is vulnerable, with the current dispensation in power. Expect CTBT and FMCT to come in rolling. This is the price China will ask for.

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 27 May 2009 08:56

Expect all new nuclear powers viz India, Pakistan and North Korea to be bundled in with intense pressure mounted on all three at the behest of china to sign the various 4 lettered treaties.

Pakistan will gladly sign provided India is neutered. NoKo is a complete chinese stooge, and has the chinese nuclear umbrella which has deterred the south and the US for so many years.

India is the one left out. Obama is in office with his pre-election pronunciations to pursue the 4 lettered treaties.

This is an attempt at a masterstroke by China to bargain India for North Korea.

The only good that I see out of this and what the world fears - When India is pushed into a corner it usually has explosions of self esteem - an event that has been long awaited by many.

Vishal_Bhatia · Post by **Vishal_Bhatia** » 27 May 2009 09:05

p_saggu wrote:NoKo is a complete chinese stooge, and has the chinese nuclear umbrella which has deterred the south and the US for so many years.

You are quite off the mark here. The Chinese have almost zero influence in North Korea. The last time North Korea tested a nuke, the Chinese moved the 39th Group Army (one of their two most-modernized group armies) to the Sino-North Korean border.

The current test was Kim's last shot to let people within his country know as to who is the boss. The middle ranks of North Korea's armed forces realize the basket case that their country is. Expect a civil war in North Korea within the next decade.

North Korea depends on China for electricity, oil and money, and on South Korea for food. So what is stopping the two countries from creating a trade blockade and eliminating Kim and his stooges?

20 million refugees.

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 27 May 2009 10:17

North Korea ups offensive, warns of military response against South Korea

"Any tiny hostile acts against our republic, including the stopping and searching of our peaceful vessels... will face an immediate and strong military strike in response," the statement said. Our military will no longer be bound by the armistice accord as the current US leadership... has drawn the puppets (South Korea) into the PSI," said the statement from the North's military representative at the border truce village of Panmunjom

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NKor ... 582663.cms

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 27 May 2009 12:59

Dear Leader Kim,after his recent stroke has realised that he is mortal and that his unfinished business with the US and SoKo has to be rushed.The fastest way for him to have gotten attention was to explode a nuclear device.The nuclear hypocrasies led by the US have now got the opportunity to work themselves into top gear,taking advantage of NoKo as Bush did with Saddam and Iraq.Kim and NoKo are the US's replacement for Saddam as the "bogeyman" for current times.What we will see now is a ton of sanctions from the UN downwards and all manner of tricks to further isolate the most isolated nation on the planet!

At this time,a curious fact is emerging.Realising the limit of its potency,with respect to Pak and probably in Asia,the US has actually asked the Chinese to help train the Pakis in counter-insurgency (today's papers)! This would've never happened during the Bush-Cheney era.A similar desperate plea is expected with respect to NoKo.The US is on a downward slide and is by this astonishing example of "outsourcing",why Paki troops,the US by the same yardstick can ask the PLA to train its bumbling troops in Afghanistan too!

Dear Leader Kim's chutzpah has to be admired.He is having aball watching the great and mighty alliance of the west flutter and flounder and has SoKo by the neck if any interventionist attempts are made on its shipping or other forms of transport. In fact,a short sharp military spat-with China quickly brokering a crease-fire might be round the corner,which will further elevate China's global status and superpower ambitions as the "hegemon of Asia".Whether there is a spat or not,the US will grovel again before China to use its influence to pacify the Dear Leader and halt his nuclear gambit.This entire theatrical display from NoKo might actually be a carefully worked out JV between China and NoKo.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 27 May 2009 14:14

You are quite off the mark here. The Chinese have almost zero influence in North Korea. The last time North Korea tested a nuke, the Chinese moved the 39th Group Army (one of their two most-modernized group armies) to the Sino-North Korean border.

You've been wabbing a lot it seems.

Just to remind you, WAB is a Chinese dominated forum (A large number of their Mods/ Admins are Chinese/ Chinese origin). Moving the 39th Group Army had nothing to do with threatening NK. It was just show. China is using NK to a large extent to rattle Japan and the US. China realizes that the threshhold for nuclearization of Japan and SK will not happen just as yet.

China can deny India loans from ADB because of Arunachal, yet it cannot leverage NK when it supplies almost 80% of their needs. Do you think there is rationale in moving their Army when they hold the strings everyway in NK? Please don't buy that subtle Chinese propaganda on WAB.

Raj Malhotra · Post by **Raj Malhotra** » 27 May 2009 19:39

Basically China is extending its power in Asia with USA busy elsewhere! Good move by China while USA is busy, Japan twiddling its thumbs and India is slow! Couple of decades down the line I expect even Burma and Bangladesh to go nulclear

sum · Post by **sum** » 27 May 2009 19:53

Moving the 39th Group Army had nothing to do with threatening NK. It was just show. China is using NK to a large extent to rattle Japan and the US.

It has as much practical/actual intent as the Pakis moving SSG columns into Swat to "fight the Taliban" or moving their strike corp to the LoC to "stop infiltration at the LoC"...

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 27 May 2009 20:07

Raj Malhotra wrote:Basically China is extending its power in Asia with USA busy elsewhere! Good move by China while USA is busy, Japan twiddling its thumbs and India is slow! Couple of decades down the line I expect even Burma and Bangladesh to go nulclear

Lets have a bet. I have my money on Burma beating Bangladesh to the finish line (Nuke Weaponization)

Vishal,
North Korea does not have any economy or industry to speak of, they export close to nothing, How do you suppose are they able to maintain such a huge military infrastructure that has been able to hold off the Americans and the South Koreans for half a century?
The 39th group army being moved in DURING the last test was a subtle message by china that it was ready to intervene in favour of north korea should the south or the US have tried a military response to prevent the test or in its aftermath. That was a reminder that china still has a iron grip on the korean peninsula, and could still begin things after half century of where it left off.

North Korea will remain a complete chinese stooge, just the type of begger that Pakistan is (Only pakistan has been two timing both the US and China). The North Korean Junta have little options otherwise.

Incidentally effective May 27th 2009 onwards, the North Koreans have withdrawn from the armistice of July 27, 1953, so that the korean peninsula is now again 'officially at war'

enqyoob · Post by **enqyoob** » 27 May 2009 20:33

The last time North Korea tested a nuke, the Chinese moved the 39th Group Army (one of their two most-modernized group armies) to the Sino-North Korean border.

The time before that was probably during the "Pueblo" incident, and the time before that was when they moved them ACROSS the border into North Korea at the Yalu River to stop MacArthur's advance.

These are to deter the US, not North Korea. The test sites and maybe the nuke storage and missile installations are near the Chinese border (for convenient transport to and from the PRC), so moving the divisions puts Chinese weaponry that much closer to react against a US attack.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 May 2009 20:40

LDP panel largely agrees on proposing ability to hit enemy bases

A defense panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party largely agreed Tuesday to propose that Japan acquire the capability to take out enemy bases under new National Defense Program Guidelines.

Samay · Post by **Samay** » 27 May 2009 21:07

ShauryaT wrote:
ramana wrote:The IUCNA deal was for a post-NPT world keeping the earlier framework/structures intact. This NoKo test is with PRC guidance/connivance as it creates chaos for US which has both hands full with Af-Pak and Iraq and Iran in the air. So toss one more ball to the juggler. Having tossed the ball it can be withdrawn as the juggler cries uncle. This test doesn't enable NoKo nuclearization (this is enabled by PRC onlee). All it does is shows the dark side can toss a ball which can be withdrawn for the right price.

Most likely US response will be to strenghten NPT process/framework. Which means in effect India takes a hit and the IUCNA is on the bcak burner.
My thoughts too. India will be the default target, as it is vulnerable, with the current dispensation in power. Expect CTBT and FMCT to come in rolling. This is the price China will ask for.

since 2-3 yrs I have seen on brf that some people behave as if living in fool's paradise ,just one or two events here and there and they start making disproportionate conclusions like that keeping India in the same bracket as noko,iran,pakistan is just as foolish as it could be in international diplomacy.
I dont expect unkil to do that ,although such efforts of bringing of bringing everyone under the npt,ctbt.. are always going on as we hear in media, but, India?.. no chance,
specially a nuke deal with India is not meant to bring it under such umbrella,
and after nuke deal ,nothing stops India in nuke arena
and btw who are the first clients in selling nuke plants,fuel to India, .. russia,& france.
unkil bullying days are gone, and the purpose of the nuke test from noko is just to prove it

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 May 2009 22:12

N.K. says not bound to armistice

North Korea said yesterday it would conduct military strikes and would no longer be bound to the armistice agreement in response to Seoul's recent decision to fully join the Proliferation Security Initiative

"While North Korea might have a few nuclear weapons, their capabilities are both quantitatively and qualitatively well below the capabilities of even the small nuclear powers (India and Pakistan), let alone China or Britain or France or Israel, and North Korea is immensely less capable than the United States or Russia," said Bruce Bennett, a senior researcher at the U.S.-based RAND Corp. "If the term 'nuclear power' refers to these other eight states, North Korea is not of comparable stature and should not be referred to in a manner that makes it a peer of the other eight."

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 27 May 2009 22:21

SamaY: First, welcome to BRF. A couple of things you can do about, how you feel about some posters. Put them in your ignore list or read their past posts, before you post a verdict on them, maybe they will change. Either ways, welcome.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 28 May 2009 01:04

From the ayatollah blog

The yield estimate is still highly uncertain, but is likely to be below 4-8 kT range that has been reported in mainstream media so far. But given the discussion in my last thread, I’m attaching this nice Mb – Yield graph for the community to have a look at.

Note that using the NTS hard rock formula puts the yield at 1.6 kT, which fits the assessment of the United States.

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 28 May 2009 01:15

Vishal_Bhatia wrote:
p_saggu wrote:NoKo is a complete chinese stooge, and has the chinese nuclear umbrella which has deterred the south and the US for so many years.
You are quite off the mark here. The Chinese have almost zero influence in North Korea. ...
North Korea depends on China for electricity, oil and money, and ...
.

You started of with a statement that the Chinese have zero influence in NoKo and you end with Noko depends on China for everything other than food. I am not sure I understand which way it is ? Do you mean to say that the Chinese supply everything to Noko and still have zero infleunce over NoKo? Something is not right with your argument can you please elaborate for us?

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 28 May 2009 01:37

China was resolutely opposed to the nuclear test by the DPRK, Foreign Ministry said Monday.DPRK announced it successfully conducted an underground nuclear test on Monday.
·The statement demanded DPRK live up to its commitment to non-nuclearization on Korean Peninsula.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009- ... 433096.htm

GuruPrabhu · Post by **GuruPrabhu** » 28 May 2009 01:41

More like China successfully condemns nuclear test by NoKo

shaardula · Post by **shaardula** » 28 May 2009 01:44

NoKo 2006 blast site on google maps

took it from here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_North ... clear_test

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 28 May 2009 02:57

^^^
FWIW here is yield estimate made simple:
Rule of two:

That is for a '2' you go from ton to KT to MT etc..

eg 4 = 1KT, 6= 1MT, 8 = 1GigaT ... etc.. (2 == 1 ton, 0 == 1Kg )

For every .2, double it.
eg 4.2 = 2KT, 4.4 = 4KT , 4.6=8KT .. etc
or 6.2 = 2MT ....
(Multiply by 1.4 if you advance by .1, eg 4.3 = 2.8KT or 3KT)

(For example, recent Lahore dhamaka of 1.4 would translate about 128 Kg of TNT -

)
(Yeah I know, different estimates give different .value... as quoted in post above "The yield estimate is still highly uncertain," ..The graph above for 6.0 gives about 100KT vs 1MT )
( BTWI am taking a=4.0 and b=.667 )

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 28 May 2009 03:12

Scientists argue North Korea's nuclear blast was smaller than first estimates

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 28 May 2009 04:06

The North Korean Nuclear Test and Geopolitical Reality

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 28 May 2009 10:20

Tests Point to Spread of Weapons Trade

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124347081988160711.html

The concerns about North Korean weapons proliferation were heightened this week with Pyongyang's underground test of a nuclear weapon and several short-range missile launches. Sales of short- and medium-range missile systems remain among North Korea's largest export earners, part of an arms trade that generates $1.5 billion annually for Pyongyang, say North Korea analysts.

In August, the U.S. worked with India to block a North Korean Air Koryo jet from flying to Iran from Myanmar on the belief it was carrying missile components; the intercepted jet flew back to Pyongyang. A diplomat at Myanmar's U.N. mission declined to comment Wednesday. Iran has in the past declined to discuss any allegations of arms deals with North Korea.

Vishal_Bhatia · Post by **Vishal_Bhatia** » 28 May 2009 13:01

harbhans
Yes, I do WAB a lot. But what I wrote has also been confirmed from other sources. The 39th Group Army sits on the Sino-NoKo border, and after the first NoKo nuclear test, the border units were replaced with military units.

As far as your views on WAB go, I’ll disagree.

p_saggu
The reason why the Chinese moved forces to the Sino-NoKo border is to prevent the flow of refugees incase America+SoKo go on the offensive. The civilians would obviously move away from the war zone.

narayanan
Sir, it was the 39th Group Army that fought the UN forces in Korea. I am aware of that.

However, I do not think even the Chicoms are crazy enough to arm Kim and his ilk with a nuke. Plus, the CHIC-4 design that the Chinese gave to Pakistan is uranium based. The NoKos are using Plutonium.

BijuShet
I said the Chinese are the only source of oil, electricity, and money to NoKo. Even then, they have no influence over that oaf named Kim. The Chinese are hesitant to pull the plug because they do not want to cause a civil war that might have repercussions for them (read refugees).

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 28 May 2009 13:26

harbhans
Yes, I do WAB a lot. But what I wrote has also been confirmed from other sources. The 39th Group Army sits on the Sino-NoKo border, and after the first NoKo nuclear test, the border units were replaced with military units.

As far as your views on WAB go, I’ll disagree.

I guessed that pronto. And i guess you take OOE as a 'Chinese expert'.

PS: He's one guy who denies there ever was mass starvation under Mao or the great famine. Another he believes the Paki nukes were not aimed at India but preventing Soviets from taking over Pakistan and India. He believes Pakistan's nuclearization was done by the Chinese becasue of the Soviets. The view on WAB reinforced by OoE and other Chinese mods is that the 39th Army is at the border to pressurize the NKoreans on testing. This is certainly not the case. Ok and..

The civilians would obviously move away from the war zone.

I agree with you that the 39th Army presence might have factored this bit in. So where's the jump that it's presence is because of pressurising NK on nukes?

Anyways apologies for some sections here that were OT.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 28 May 2009 16:58

Alert level raised on North Korea

"Watchcon II took effect as of 0715 [2215 GMT]," said South Korean defence ministry spokesman Won Tae-Jae, adding that the five-stage combat alert level was at its second-highest level.

Samay · Post by **Samay** » 28 May 2009 17:33

ShauryaT wrote:SamaY: First, welcome to BRF. A couple of things you can do about, how you feel about some posters. Put them in your ignore list or read their past posts, before you post a verdict on them, maybe they will change. Either ways, welcome.

what does past posts had to do about an opinion on a different issue ? what I feel about some posters is a different thing and I was not mentioning about my feelings, but about an observation of a general trend that is flowing everywhere on brf,uncontrolled.
read the post above I took your post as an example of that trend,not as an opinion about somebody
cheers

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 28 May 2009 18:39

I have heard of this CHIC-4 story to pakistan for so long, it is beginning to seem like the lentils are black.
The Pakis 'tested' a Pu based chinese bomb - surely not the CHIC-4.

The chinese must have designed a new warhead for the pakis - all those years that the pakistani and chinese scientists were working in the labs in China must have been to train the pakis and to develop a new design for pakistan, that would use components that the pakistani would acquire on their own and that could not be traced back to china.
Why did the paki bomb not go off as planned? Was there a design failure? The components were not engineered to the required specifications? Was the Uranium enrichment of Xerox khan inadequate? What?

The same thing seems to be happening with the North Koreans.

Perhaps the chinese are helping out with the design and a few components, making it seem like some nuclear development is going on, but the bums that these nations manufacture don't go off. Ultimately china has to step in to preserve H&D onlee.

Keshav · Post by **Keshav** » 28 May 2009 20:15

People here are convinced the Chinese are behind this, which is possible, but we should take into consideration the whys and hows.

Here is Fred Kaplan's take from Slate on North Korea's nuclear relationship with China:

Cutting off trade routes probably would have an impact on the regime and thus on the rulers' behavior. But most trade goes through its neighbor and key ally China. And in past confrontations, China's leaders have refused to apply economic pressure. They fear that destabilizing Kim's regime might spur millions of North Koreans to flee across the Chinese border, creating a refugee crisis beyond Beijing's control. Moreover, the survival of Kim's regime serves their own strategic interests: As long as U.S. military forces in East Asia are focused on protecting South Korea and Japan from Pyongyang, they'll be less focused on protecting Taiwan from Beijing.

At the same time, however, the Chinese have no desire to see North Korea develop an effective nuclear arsenal. Like the Soviet Union during Cold War days, China doesn't want subordinate powers to acquire independent means to make mischief. China also fears that a nuclear-armed North Korea might compel Japan to go nuclear, which would pose a threat to China in the long run. When North Korea set off its first nuclear test, the Chinese were clearly frustrated but didn't extend their harsh words to action. It's conceivable that this second test, especially in the wake of the missile test—both of which violated Security Council resolutions that China endorsed—could alter Chinese calculations. In the past, the Chinese have put their narrow national interests above the interests of regional security and nuclear nonproliferation. Maybe this latest move will tip the scale in the opposite direction.

If China wants regional and global dominance, they need to make sure their allies aren't getting uppity, which is exactly what Dear Leader is doing.

Of course, the opposite effect here is the idea that China has its grip on the nuclear weapons and all this is a sleight of hand to draw attention to North Korea and remove suspicion from itself. All in all, I think its a little more complicated than people here are making it.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 28 May 2009 21:29

Saw my comment on that FAS site (they have some moderation, so the comment did not appear right away:

# AmberG Says:

The use of the term “slightly more powerful” ( 4.7 vs 4.3 ) is a bit peculiar. As some one mentioned, the scale is logarithmic (in Amplitude - In terms of energy it is 3/2 power of amplitude), so a difference of 0.4 (4.7-4.3) translates to about a factor of 4! (not “slightly more powerful” )… Actually this ratio could be as high as 6 if you make allowance that, say 4.74 would still be written as 4.7.

Reply: I guess, if they’re going from essentially no yield to a little yield. But the point I was trying to make was that the alleged 10-20 kilotons was a long way away from what the seismic data suggested. North Korea has made progress, but it was not a “Hiroshima-size” explosion. So far the statements made by others seem to support that conclusion. HK

Meanwhile .. Saw John King on CNN yesterday, proudly using his fancy map screen and colored circles was showing that NK's Missile X's range is "621" miles and Missile Y's range is "932" miles..
(Some one is using Excel again converting 1000(or 1500 ) Km to really precise looking miles)

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 28 May 2009 22:33

North Korea ready to sell nuclear weapons to al-Qaeda

NORTH Korea is ready to sell nuclear bombs to al-Qaeda, experts warned yesterday.

As the crisis over the rogue regime's nuclear bomb explosion deepened, former diplomats said there was a clear and present danger from the Pyongyang government.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-wo ... -21392451/

I have a feeling, that the Pakis have already given a nuke or two to Islamist groups. Imagine a nuke going off in Mumbai or Delhi, how easy it will be for them to say NK did it. There is a possibility Lizard is slithering away from a potential catastrophic response if the rogue nukes do detonate in some Capitals (US or India..) and making Kim a scapegoat for this. I am just wondering why the hell should NK say it's going to give nukes to Al Q or Taliban for instance? Just does'nt make sense unless you figure in Pakis and the Chinese into the equation. They have given a few nukes away already. When the nuke strike does happen..people will point to NK and these reports..Pukes and Chinese will play all innocent. Chinese will eliminate Kim..and do a regime change in NK. Pukistan goes saying it's innocent. This is NKs job..we both are fighting terrorists together onlee..just brilliant for an alibi.

India should step up security in view of this.

John Snow · Post by **John Snow** » 28 May 2009 22:40

Fred Kaplan is bogus along with his fellow jurnos called James Fallows who writes for The Atlantic ( Even Fred is regular showing there). They very very pro China go to extereme lengths to paint PRC in pink if not red terms.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 28 May 2009 23:25

Russian Seismic Data

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 29 May 2009 02:32

N Korea restarts nuclear reprocessing plant

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 29 May 2009 02:35

North Korean Atomic Tests Lift Lid on Japan’s Nuclear ‘Taboo’

“The threat is elevated and Japan should seek to arm itself with nuclear weapons,” former Japanese air force chief Toshio Tamogami said in one of two recent interviews.

Shingo Nishimura, who resigned in 1999 as a deputy defense minister after calling for a nuclear debate, praised Tamogami for speaking out. “Japan is shifting from an abnormal situation to a normal one,” said Nishimura, 60, a lower-house lawmaker. “We should make a defense strategy assuming there’s no such thing as a U.S. nuclear umbrella.”