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North Korea Hints at New Nuclear Test North Korea Hints at New Nuclear Test
(about 4 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Wednesday that its nuclear weapons program was no longer negotiable, and indicated that it might conduct its third nuclear test to retaliate against the United Nations Security Council’s tightening of sanctions against the country for launching a rocket last month.SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Wednesday that its nuclear weapons program was no longer negotiable, and indicated that it might conduct its third nuclear test to retaliate against the United Nations Security Council’s tightening of sanctions against the country for launching a rocket last month.
Although it was not the first time North Korea issued such strident rhetoric, its posture, coming under the new leadership of Kim Jong-un, threw a direct challenge to President Obama as he starts his second term, and to Park Geun-hye, who will be sworn in as president of South Korea next month. After years of tensions with North Korea, both Mr. Obama and Ms. Park recently said they were keeping the door open for dialogue with North Korea on the premise that such engagement would lead to the eventual dismantling of its nuclear weapons program. Although it was not the first time North Korea had expressed such a strident stance, its posture, coming under the new leadership of Kim Jong-un, threw a direct challenge to President Obama as he starts his second term, and to Park Geun-hye, who will be sworn in as president of South Korea next month.
The North’s comments came as Washington reaffirmed its policy of punishing North Korea for moving toward the development of long-range missiles tipped with a nuclear warhead, spearheading international backing for a unanimous Security Council resolution in New York on Tuesday. After years of tensions with North Korea, both Mr. Obama and Ms. Park recently said they were keeping the door open for dialogue with North Korea on the premise that such engagement would lead to the eventual dismantling of its nuclear weapons program.
The resolution condemned North Korea’s Dec. 12 rocket launching as a violation of earlier resolutions banning the country from conducting any tests involving ballistic missile technology, and tightened existing sanctions. North Korea said on Wednesday that it would take “physical counteraction” to bolster its “nuclear deterrence both qualitatively and quantitatively.” The North’s comments came as Washington reaffirmed its policy of punishing North Korea for moving toward the development of long-range missiles tipped with a nuclear warhead, spearheading international backing for a unanimous Security Council resolution on Tuesday.
By “physical counteraction,” analysts in Seoul said, North Korea most likely meant detonating another nuclear device to demonstrate advances in bomb making. After analyzing the debris of the rocket North Korea fired in December to put a satellite into orbit, South Korean officials said North Korea indigenously built crucial components of a missile that can fly more than 6,200 miles. The resolution tightened existing sanctions and condemned North Korea’s Dec. 12 rocket launching as a violation of earlier resolutions banning the country from conducting any tests involving ballistic missile technology. North Korea said Wednesday that it would take “physical counteraction” to bolster its “nuclear deterrence both qualitatively and quantitatively.”
In recent months, international experts have detected what appear to be new tunneling activities and efforts to fix flood damage in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in northeastern North Korea. Kim Min-seok, spokesman for the Defense Ministry of South Korea, told reporters last month that North Korea could conduct a third nuclear test on short notice once its leadership decided to. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test in Punggye-ri in 2006 and again in 2009. By “physical counteraction,” analysts in Seoul said, North Korea most likely meant detonating another nuclear device to show advances in bomb making. After analyzing the debris of the rocket North Korea fired in December to put a satellite into orbit, South Korean officials said North Korea indigenously built crucial components of a missile that can fly more than 6,200 miles.
Washington and its allies “know better than any others about the fact that ballistic missile technology is the only means for launching satellites, and they launch satellites more than any others,” the North Korean statement said on Wednesday. “This is self-deception and the height of double standards.” In recent months, international experts have detected what appear to be new tunneling activities and efforts to fix flood damage in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in northeastern North Korea. Kim Min-seok, spokesman for the Defense Ministry of South Korea, told reporters last month that North Korea could conduct a third nuclear test on short notice once its leadership decided to. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test in Punggye-ri in 2006 and in 2009.
The North Korean statement said Wednesday that Washington and its allies “know better than any others about the fact that ballistic missile technology is the only means for launching satellites, and they launch satellites more than any others.” It added, “This is self-deception and the height of double standards.”
In recent years, North Korea has made it increasingly clear that it is determined to keep its nuclear weapons at whatever costs, undermining a once-popular belief that the Pyongyang government’s brinkmanship was a mere bargaining ploy designed to get as many concessions as possible in exchange for nuclear weapons.In recent years, North Korea has made it increasingly clear that it is determined to keep its nuclear weapons at whatever costs, undermining a once-popular belief that the Pyongyang government’s brinkmanship was a mere bargaining ploy designed to get as many concessions as possible in exchange for nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday, the North said denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was impossible unless “the denuclearization of the world is realized.” The 2005 deal in which North Korea and the United States agreed in principle upon the dismantling of the North’s nuclear weapons program in return for diplomatic incentives “has now become defunct,” it said. Choi Jin-wook, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said, “This is a strong message from North Korea, basically saying that no matter how much economic aid it receives, no matter how flexible other countries become, it will be negotiating only on the premise that it will be accepted and treated as a nuclear power.”
“This is a strong message from North Korea, basically saying that no matter how much economic aid it receives, no matter how flexible other countries become, it will be negotiating only on the premise that it will be accepted and treated as a nuclear power,” said Choi Jin-wook, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. “The North is sending a wake-up alarm to Washington and Seoul if they still believed that they could negotiate an end to the North’s nuclear weapons.” He continued, “The North is sending a wake-up alarm to Washington and Seoul.”