North Korea vows to test a nuclear weapon
By Choe Sang-Hun International Herald Tribune | October 3, 2006
SEOUL - North Korea said Tuesday that it would test a nuclear weapon despite U.S. warnings that such a move would provoke harsher sanctions and perhaps even military action.
The announcement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry marked the first time the regime had declared its intention to conduct a nuclear test and raised the stakes dramatically in negotiations on how to deal with North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.
The statement gave no indication when a test might occur. Last month, Kim Seung Kyu, director of the National Intelligence Service, told the South Korean Parliament that North Korea was capable of conducting an underground nuclear test at any time.
Although Pyongyang declared in February 2005 that it possessed nuclear weapons, it has never conducted a known test on its territory to prove its claim. A successful test would confirm North Korea as the eighth declared nuclear power, following the steps of the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India and Pakistan. Israel is an undeclared nuclear power.
Confirmation that North Korea has nuclear weapons, experts said, would disrupt the arms balance in Northeast Asia and possibly compel Japan, which lies within the range of North Korean missiles, to amass its own arsenal. That in turn would encourage South Korea to pursue its own nuclear arms program.
In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said: "It is a threat to peace. We would never be able to forgive such a move."
South Korea will increase surveillance on North Korea for signs of a nuclear test, said Yoon Tae Young, spokesman for President Roh Moo Hyun.
"President Roh has repeatedly said that South Korea will not tolerate nuclear weapons for North Korea, and said that if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, it will create a whole new environment" in North Korea's relations with South Korea and the rest of the world, Yoon said.
"The DPRK will in the future conduct a nuclear test under the condition where safety is firmly guaranteed," the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement, referring to the country's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea's statement, carried by its official press agency, KCNA, said the "U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel the DPRK to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering nuclear deterrent." It said North Korea would "never use nuclear weapons first but strictly prohibit any threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear transfer."
American officials say that North Korea is a leading vendor of missile technology, and given its history of flouting international treaties, could easily turn to nuclear materials to earn badly needed cash.
North Korea lashed out at what it called Washington's attempts to "internationalize the sanctions and blockade against the DPRK by leaving no dastardly means and methods untried in a foolish attempt to isolate and stifle it economically and bring down the socialist system chosen by its people themselves." It called such moves a "de facto declaration of war."
Since last September, the U.S. Treasury Department has persuaded 24 banks in China, Mongolia, Singapore, Vietnam and other countries to shut down North Korean accounts. Last month, Australia and Japan ordered their financial institutions to block transactions by companies suspected of having links to North Korea's weapons programs.
Washington says North Korea should return to the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks or face further restraints on its finances. North Korea insists that it will boycott the nuclear talks as long as there are sanctions. The talks involve the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia.
"A nuclear test by North Korea will shake up the military balance between North Korea, Japan and South Korea, which has been based on conventional weapons," said Nam Sung Wook, a North Korea expert at Korea University in Seoul. "The sense of insecurity will spike in South Korea, and calls could mount in Japan for nuclear armament."
North Korea's statement came just days before planned visits by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Beijing and Seoul, Nam noted. Abe, a hawk on North Korea, was expected to discuss North Korea as a top agenda item in his meetings with Chinese and South Korean leaders.
"Right now there is a 50-50 chance of North Korea testing a nuke," Nam said. "Much of the decision will depend on what China and South Korea say after their summits with Abe."
"North Korea is believed to have acquired enough technology from Pakistan to conduct a test," Nam said. "If it wants to, it can finish the preparations within three weeks. It will wait for a timing with a maximum impact."
Robert Joseph, the U.S. under secretary of state for arms control and international security, said last week that Washington was prepared to seek a UN Security Council resolution that would invoke Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows for military force. The use of Chapter 7 has been vehemently opposed by China and South Korea.
In the recent weeks, there have been news reports in Washington, Tokyo and Seoul that North Korea may be preparing for an underground nuclear test. The reports cited activities around facilities near the border with China or on the North's remote northeast coast
