BREAKING NEWS: North Korea claims nuclear test!

[Barnabas]

Egypt!

[LordShiva]

Yeah Israel is included in those who already have nukes.

I'd add Turkey, definitely, and maybe Taiwan (!).

[SlowwHand]

Malta!

[Q Classic]

Originally posted by LordShiva
IAEA predicts up to 30 more possible nuclear weapons states.

I wonder if we can come up with 30 countries that might go nuclear:

1. Iran
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Egypt
4. S. Korea
5. Japan
6. Brazil (again?)
7. Argentina? (again?)
8. Syria?
9. ???

Why is Japan a surprise? All three current non-nuclear states in East Asia are capable of developing nuclear weapons within five years or less already...

[Q Classic]

Germany's capable, and may consider it as well.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
Why is Japan a surprise? All three current non-nuclear states in East Asia are capable of developing nuclear weapons within five years or less already...

Japan could do it in months, IMO.

It's a surprise because it has been, unsurprisingly, the leading proponent of disarmament and non-proliferation.

[SlowwHand]

US detects activity at North Korea test site -media

By JoAnne Allen and Sue Pleming
27 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. spy satellites have detected suspicious vehicle and people activity near the site of
North Korea's nuclear test that may signal preparations for another test, U.S. television networks reported on Monday.

U.S. officials said they could not be certain of what the North Koreans were doing in the area, but the activity there could be preparations for a second nuclear blast, NBC and ABC said.

In Seoul, a South Korean government official told Reuters on Tuesday: "The government is aware of signs related to North Korea's possible second nuclear test. We cannot exclude the possibility of a second test."

But he added there was no firm information on a possible new test.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on the eve of a trip to the region to try to stiffen the resolve behind U.N. sanctions on North Korea, said she hoped Pyongyang would not conduct a second nuclear test.

The
U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a sanctions resolution against North Korea on Saturday in response to Pyongyang's October 9 nuclear test. North Korea's ambassador told the council that if the United States increased pressure on his country, Pyongyang "will continue to take physical countermeasures considering it as a declaration of war."

Rice dismissed skepticism among some in Washington about China's commitment to tough action against its communist neighbor.

"I am not concerned that the Chinese are going to turn their backs on their obligations," she said. "I don't think they would have voted for a resolution that they did not intend to carry through on."

U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said China was already taking action to check goods crossing into North Korea. "The Chinese now are beginning to stop trucks at the 800-mile

border and inspect all of them," he said on CNN.

China has made clear it is worried that tough action could provoke a collapse of the impoverished and highly militarized state, and its U.N. ambassador again clarified the limits of its action on Monday.

"Inspections yes, but inspections are different from interception and interdiction." Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters, an apparent reference to stopping cargo at sea, which is one of the U.N. sanctions agreed to on Saturday.

Wang said the resolution did not make it mandatory for all nations to inspect cargo going to and from North Korea. He said states could carry out such an operation as necessary "in accordance with their national legal authorities."

BLAST CONFIRMED

The U.S. government confirmed that the October 9 explosion, which prompted worldwide condemnation and the harsh sanctions regime, was a nuclear explosion as Pyongyang claimed.

"Analysis of air samples collected on October 11, 2006, detected radioactive debris which confirms that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion," the director of national intelligence said in a statement.

Rice leaves on Tuesday for Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing and Moscow to try to cement the unified U.N. approach and edge North Korea back toward six-party talks aimed at stopping its program to build a nuclear weapon.

"My goal on this trip is, certainly, to reiterate that we're prepared to return to the talks. But North Korea also needs to understand ... that they will pay a price here" because of the test, she said.

U.S. officials also said North Korea must do more than return to the talks to have the sanctions lifted. "A return to six-party talks kind of doesn't do it," Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer said.

Pyongyang had to commit to implementing an agreement from September 19, 2005, in which it promised in principle to scrap its nuclear arms programs in return for aid, security assurances and promises of better diplomatic ties.

There were signs the new web of sanctions was starting to be put in place. Australia said it was prohibiting all North Korean ships from entering Australian ports and Japan announced it was extending already harsh restrictions.

'DIFFERENT DREAMS'

But Professor Nam Sung-wook of Korea University, an expert on North Korea, said the practical effect was questionable. "They (countries supporting sanctions) are in bed together but they're all dreaming different dreams," he said.

Most of Pyongyang's trade crosses through China, which has perhaps the most leverage on the reclusive state but fears a flood of refugees if the Pyongyang government collapses.

Xu Guangyu of the government-sponsored China Arms Control and Disarmament Association institute in Beijing, said inspecting cargo for weapons-related material was "more a symbolic step than a real sanction measure."

"China just doesn't engage in that sort of trade with North Korea, so there's not much practical that needs to be done. It lets North Korea know our feelings." Weapons comprise a tiny fraction of the two countries' $1.5 billion trade.

(Additional reporting by, Kang Shinhye and Hong Ki-soo in Seoul, Chris Buckley in Beijing Doina Chiacu in Washington and Evelyn Leopold at the
United Nations)

[GePap]

A second test is simply not shocking anymore. NK has to raise the ante yet again, I say. Do a surface nuclear test - now that would get even more attention. All our footage of nuclear detonations is like 40 years old at this point. Someone has to create some new stock footage.

[SlowwHand]

"Analysis of air samples collected on October 11, 2006, detected radioactive debris which confirms that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion,"

In the air.

[GePap]

I think you missed the part in your quote about underground tests.

Come on, what does everyone have against having some brand new stock footage of a nuclear mushroom cloud? I mean, just how many times are we going to see the same house and the same jeeps blown up? Jesus, I must have seen that footage now hundreds of times.

We need new footage!

[Dis]

I'd like to see some more footage of a sea blast. The U.S. only did that once in the pacific I believe.

I think the best thing to do would be to use a nuke at the U.S. aircraft carrier stationed in Japan.

[SlowwHand]

What?

[Dis]

only kidding. NK missiles couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.

[SlowwHand]

[Killuminati]

Well, that's the thing about nuclear missiles. You don't have to hit the side of the barn, broad or not. You can miss the barn by a mile and it will still be destroyed.

It's not the accuracy of the missile but the range.