N. Korea suspected of test detonation of nuke

[thereisnospoon]

Global seismic monitors have detected a 4.9 magnitude earthquake under North Korea.
According to data I researched http://www.iris.edu/seismon/....The depth of the quake was just 1km. This shallow depth indicates a man made tremor...more from ABC News.
North Korea Tremor Arouses Suspicion of Nuclear Test - ABC News

 

[waltky]

No. Korea sets off another nuke test...

'Man-Made' Earthquake Reported in N.Korea
February 11, 2013 - The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a 4.9-magnitude earthquake in North Korea, raising fears that Pyongyang may have gone ahead with its threat to conduct a third nuclear test.

The USGS report put the epicenter of the quake in Kilju county, near where North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site is located. South Korean officials would not confirm whether the widely anticipated nuclear test had taken place, but several officials says it is the "likely" cause of the quake. North Korea is not prone to seismic activity.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has convened a meeting of the National Security Council in response to the suspected test. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also holding an emergency meeting Tuesday. North Korea has threatened to carry out its third nuclear test in retaliation for United Nations sanctions that were expanded last month in response to a recent long-range rocket launch.

Earlier Tuesday, North Korean state media threatened an unspecified "high-intensity" action, but did not mention any possible nuclear test. North Korea is banned from conducting nuclear and missile tests under U.N. sanctions passed in 2006 and 2009.

'Man-Made' Earthquake Reported in N.Korea

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Seismic activity in N. Korea points toward expected nuclear test
February 11, 2013 - A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said shortly after noon Tuesday that it was trying to determine whether the seismic activity was caused by a nuclear explosion.

South Korea’s military says seismic activity has been detected in North Korea, an indicator that the rogue state has carried out a threat to conduct its third nuclear test just two months after it successfully launched a long-range rocket. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency quoted senior government officials as saying there was a “high probability” the seismic activity – which they recorded at a magnitude of 5.0 – was the result of a nuclear test. Outgoing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was convening an emergency meeting of his National Security Council Tuesday afternoon, the news agency said, adding that the South and U.S. militaries raised their alert levels. The U.S. military here had no immediate public reaction to the reports.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported an earthquake of 4.9 magnitude at a depth of one kilometer — 0.6 mile — 16 miles from Sungjibaegam, North Korea, where the reclusive country is believed to have an underground nuclear testing facility. North Korea had threatened to carry out its third nuclear test in seven years after the United Nations Security Council in January formally condemned Pyongyang and expanded sanctions for a Dec. 12 satellite launch. The council deemed the launch a violation of a ban against North Korea testing missile capabilities.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry responded by saying it would counter the United States’ “hostile policy with strength, not with words,” and vowing it would “bolster (our) military capabilities for self-defense, including the nuclear deterrence.” North Korea is notorious for timing provocative acts for maximum impact. This time, many South Koreans were off work in observation of the long Lunar New Year holiday weekend, and President Obama is scheduled to make his State of the Union address on Tuesday night in Washington -- a nuclear test could prompt him to add in reaction. If a nuclear test has been carried out, it followed a familiar pattern.

The 2006 and 2009 tests also came soon after missile launches and were used to bolster the nation’s leadership to its people and as leverage to solicit concessions from the West. The North’s government-controlled media hailed the December launch of a three-stage rocket as a major victory for the budding regime of its young leader, Kim Jong Un, who took power following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December 2011. North Korea watchers believe the end game for the ongoing testing is to develop a nuclear missile capable of reaching the U.S., presumably strengthening the reclusive country’s position at the bargaining table.

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[Katzndogz]

Didn't obama say they couldn't do that. He would frown and furrow his noble brow.

 

[there4eyeM]

Interesting that a country suspected of having WMDs had to be invaded, but another known to possess them is not. Which policy is correct?

 

[tjvh]

Thanks again Bill... The Clinton Legacy: North Korea's Bomb

 

[waltky]

North Korean Test Brings Iran Closer To Its Own Test...

North Korea and Iran – partners in nuclear and missile programs
February 12, 2013, There is full awareness in Washington and Jerusalem that the North Korean nuclear test conducted Tuesday, Feb. 12, brings Iran that much closer to conducting a test of its own. A completed bomb or warhead are not necessary for an underground nuclear test; a device which an aircraft or missile can carry is enough.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s boast this week that Iran will soon place a satellite in orbit at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers - and Tehran’s claim on Feb. 4 to have sent a monkey into space – highlight Iran's role in the division of labor Pyongyang and Tehran have achieved in years of collaboration: the former focusing on a nuclear armament and the latter on long-range missile technology to deliver it. Their advances are pooled. Pyongyang maintains a permanent mission of nuclear and missile scientists in Tehran, whereas Iranian experts are in regular attendance at North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.

Since the detonation of the “miniature atomic bomb” reported by Pyongyang Tuesday - which US President Barack Obama called “a threat to US National security”- Iran must be presumed to have acquired the same “miniature atomic bomb” capabilities - or even assisted in the detonation. Word of the North Korean atomic test reminded US officials of Ahmadinejad’s boast only a couple of days ago about the forthcoming launch of an Iranian satellite into orbit. The two events clearly hang together as probably coordinated between Tehran and Pyongyang.

Ahead of the UN Security Council emergency session later Tuesday, Kim Jong Un’s government warned of “stronger actions” after the nuclear test. Its diplomat warned the UN disarmament forum that his country will “never bow to any resolutions." The nuclear threat is not the only unconventional warfare peril looming closer. In Damascus, Syrian rebels are nearer than ever before to crashing through the capital’s last lines of defense. Tuesday, they were only 1.5 kilometers short of the heart of Damascus. Western and Israeli military sources believe that if the Syrian rebels reach this target, the Syrian ruler Bashar Assad will have no qualms about using chemical weapons for the first time in the two-year civil war to save his regime. Both the US and Israel have warned him that doing so would cross a red line.

debkafile’s military sources report that Syrian rebel forces, spearheaded by an Al Qaeda-allied Islamist brigade, gained entry Tuesday to the 4th Division’s (Republican Guard) main base in the Adra district of eastern Damascus and are fighting the defenders in hand to hand combat for control of the facility. Other rebel forces are retaking parts of the Damascus ring road in fierce battles, thereby cutting off the Syrian army’s Homs units in the north from their supply lines from the capital. These two rebel thrusts, if completed, would bring the Syrian army closer than ever before to collapse. Assad is therefore expected to use every means at his disposal to cut his enemies down.

Source

See also:

North Korea crisis: China speaks softly to avoid alienating nuclear-armed neighbor
12 Feb.`13 - Early readings of North Korea's nuclear test Monday show it was three to six times more powerful than any tests from that country before. President Obama is calling it "a highly provocative act."

As North Korea's biggest political ally and benefactor, China would appear to hold all the cards when it comes to reining in Kim Jong Un's regime. However, its response to Pyongyang's latest nuclear test was rather muted Tuesday. Beijing's foreign minister summoned North Korea's ambassador for a dressing down and sternly expressed "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition" to the test.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Beijing will also join in a meeting set for later this week to discuss how best to respond to the nuclear test. But it remains unclear if Beijing will support tougher new sanctions, or that any new round of UN sanctions or resolutions will have much impact on the reclusive nation's actions.

Since the 1950-1953 Korean War, North Korea has been subjected to an array of multinational and unilateral sanctions by the international community. The country's leaders have responded to the isolation by focusing even more intently on developing sophisticated weapons and rocket programs that have simultaneously infuriated regional neighbors and drawn them to the negotiating table.

Many regional observers have suggested that international sanctions are doomed to failure as long as Beijing continues to prop up and sustain its neighbor through aid and investment. Indeed, over the years China has staunchly supported North Korea on the international field, arguing that individual countries have the right to develop rocket programs that were scientific in nature and helping to derail stiffer sanctions against North Korea by the UN.

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[Kevin_Kennedy]

Interesting that a country suspected of having WMDs had to be invaded, but another known to possess them is not. Which policy is correct?

If I were Iran I would note that Libya discontinued their nuclear program and the U.S. helped overthrow the government, whereas North Korea who is known to have nuclear weapons is essentially left alone.