North Korean Nuclear Test Catches U.S. by Surprise
One senior intelligence official says that even after the demonstration at the Punggye nuclear test site, the only evidence of activity that analysts could see in aerial imagery was a "couple of spoil sites," or large holes.

FOXNews.com
May 25, 2009
North Korea's decision to detonate a nuclear device underground Monday caught the United States by surprise, officials said.

"They didn't give us any warning whatsoever," one senior U.S. intelligence official who works on North Korean issues told FOX News.

Another official told Reuters that North Korea gave less than an hour's notice to the United States that it would carry out the test.

The official said the communist country made "no demands," and passed on the message that it would carry out the test through diplomats at the United Nations in New York City.

The senior intelligence official said that even after the demonstration at the Punggye nuclear test site, the only evidence of activity that analysts could see in aerial imagery was a "couple of spoil sites," or large holes.

"We saw some activity" at Punggye prior to the test, the official said. But the activity was not as intense as that which normally precedes a detonation, so few anticipated such an action at this time. "They are really good at hiding things from us."

John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was one of the few to predict the test. He wrote in a May 20 column in The Wall Street Journal that such a test would be more than just a "propaganda ploy," since most experts believe the country's 2006 test was flawed.

"The scientific and military imperatives for a second test have been strong for over two years, and the potential data, experience and other advantages of further testing would be tremendous," Bolton wrote last week.

North Korea also test fired the Musudan-Ri missile, on which Kim Jong Il could ultimately hope to place a nuclear device.

Daniel Pinkston, of the International Crisis Group in Seoul, said the new missile has a range of up to 2,500 miles and is capable of hitting Guam.

Pinkston said the missile had never been tested before Monday. It would be North Korea's third nuclear-capable missile in its arsenal.

MY WORDS i only post this because i dont think the strength was in the article but i may have just missed it, , not sure if obama reaction was in it or not, but im sure he will have more to say and do, anyway, as follows, there were about 6 different article on this where i get my new article, i chose this i may post japans reaction ,i will read and decide if its worth it, take care,


North Korea tests nuclear weapon 'as powerful as Hiroshima bomb'
North Korea today risked further international isolation after it claimed to have successfully tested a nuclear weapon as powerful as the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

The test comes less than two months after the North enraged the US and its allies by test firing a long-range ballistic missile.

The KNCA news agency, the regime's official mouthpiece, said: "We have successfully conducted another nuclear test on 25 May as part of the republic's measures to strengthen its nuclear deterrent."

Officials in South Korea said they had detected a tremor consistent with those caused by an underground nuclear explosion. The country's Yonhap news agency reported that the North had test-fired three short-range missiles from a base on the east coast immediately after the nuclear test.

The underground atomic explosion, at 9.54am local time (0154 BST), created an earthquake measuring magnitude 4.5 in Kilju county in the country's north-east, reports said.

President Barack Obama called the test a matter of grave concern to all countries. "North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," he said in a statement. "North Korea's behaviour increases tensions and undermines stability in north-east Asia."

He added that North Korea's behaviour would serve only to deepen the country's isolation
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i heard on tv south korea gave us a one hour warning it was about to happen, so i imagine they along with our intelligence has a presents in north korea,

MY words, i was wrong, it was north Korea that gave the US< and China a one hour warning,
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North Korea conducted a second nuclear test on Monday, triggering an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting on the reclusive state's defiant act and drawing global condemnation.

Financial markets in Asia wobbled briefly on the news, but since neither Korea is an oil supplier, the impact on oil prices was expected to be limited. U.S. and British markets were closed for a holiday.

President Barack Obama said Pyongyang's bid to develop nuclear weapons was a threat to international peace and security and the international community would need to respond.

The North's neighbor and long-time benefactor, China, said it was "resolutely opposed" to the test.

Russia, which called the test a threat to regional security, said the blast was about equal in power to the U.S. atom bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki in World War Two, or about 20 times larger than the North's one kiloton test in 2006.

But the Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization contested that, saying the magnitude of the latest test was "slightly higher than in 2006, measuring 4.52 on the Richter scale, while in 2006 it was 4.1.

Raising tensions further, North Korea test-fired three short-range missiles hours later, Yonhap news agency said.

"North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose a grave threat to the peace and security of the world, and I strongly condemn their reckless action," Obama said at the White House. "The United States and the international community must take action in response,.

Officials in Washington and Beijing said North Korea had warned their governments of the test about an hour before detonation but nearby Japan said it was not given advance notice.

Germany, France, Britain and the EU were among those condemning Pyongyang's act, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply worried." The U.N. Security Council was to hold emergency talks on Monday at 4 p.m. EDT.

PROLIFERATION CONCERNS

The latest test will confound the international community, which has for years tried a mixture of huge aid pledges and tough economic sanctions to persuade the impoverished North to give up efforts to build a nuclear arsenal.

It is also bound to raise concerns about proliferation, a major worry of the United States which has in the past accused Pyongyang of trying to sell its nuclear know-how to states such as Syria.

Iran, which the West accuses of secretly developing atomic weapons and which conducted a missile test last week, said it had no missile or nuclear cooperation with North Korea [ID:nDAH549489]

NATO called for North Korea to refrain from raising tensions further. "These irresponsible actions by Pyongyang pose a serious challenge to peace, security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region," the NATO statement said.

Analysts said the North Korea's test also will force Washington to acknowledge that its leverage over the unpredictable state is at best limited. The United States must hope China will put pressure on Pyongyang, despite its fear of destabilizing its poor, secretive neighbor.

MARKETS BRIEFLY UNSETTLED

South Korea's main stock market fell more than 6 percent at one stage but its decline was short-lived. Analysts said investors were used to the North's saber-rattling, even as it became more aggressive, and would likely panic only if there was military conflict on a peninsula where 2 million troops face each other across one of the world's most heavily armed borders.

North Korea already is so isolated there is little left with which to punish an autocratic government that has been ready to take dealings with the outside world to the brink.

Its leaders repeatedly stress the threat from the United States to justify heavy spending on the military that keeps them in power but which has meant deepening poverty, and at times famine, for many of its 23 million people.

The official KCNA news agency said the North had "successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way."

North Korean neighbor China Monday echoed concerns by other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

"The Chinese side vehemently demands North Korea abides by its denuclearization promises, stop any actions which may worsen the situation and return to the six-party talks process," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

"The Chinese government calls on all sides to calmly and appropriately deal (with the situation)."

Analysts said, however, Beijing was unlikely to back stronger sanctions as part of a new U.N. Security Council resolution, for fear that North Korea might collapse, releasing a flood of refugees across its border.

The test comes as speculation has mounted that leader Kim Jong-il, his health uncertain after reports of a stroke last year, wants to strengthen an already iron grip on power so he can better secure the succession for one of his three sons.

North Korea had for weeks threatened to conduct the test in response to tighter international sanctions following its April launch of a rocket, widely seen as a disguised long-range missile that violated U.N. resolutions.

Following the tightened sanctions, Pyongyang also said it would no longer be a party to six-country talks with China, Russia, the United States, Japan and South Korea on giving up its nuclear weapons program.

"North Korea's strategic objective hasn't changed. That objective is to win the attention of the Obama administration, to push the North Korea issue up the agenda," said Xu Guangyu, a researcher at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

Obama issued a strong statement, but what I wonder is how did this test get by our intelligence..hopefully Obama's cutbacks were not the cause of our getting caught with our pants down on awareness.

SSC wrote:Obama issued a strong statement, but what I wonder is how did this test get by our intelligence..hopefully Obama's cutbacks were not the cause of our getting caught with our pants down on awareness.

this is memory, the actions at the sight, prior over the days before were not enough for us to think anythink like this was being staged, by satellite surveillance.. is all i heard, apparently we dont have enough live bodys there with intel,,, i would imagine that type thing has not changed yet from one administration to another, and now not change at all as this is big time, but north korea is goofy, u never know what they will do, they have to know if they do anything, we have nukes in subs in the sea of japan to take them out, only problem is their proximity to china and russia, for big time radiation, russia now is testing for radiation just from N koreas test,