Blue Devil
05-25-2009, 06:59 PM
UN Security Council Meets After North Korea’s Nuclear Test (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aKS4lyOHwn9k&refer=worldwide)
Security Council Condemns N Korea Blast (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/North-Korea-Nuclear-Weapon-Test-Nuke-Test-Condemned-Around-World/Article/200905415287844?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15287844_North_Korea_Nuclear_Weapon_Te st%3A_Nuke_Test_Condemned_Around_World)
UN Security Council Meets After North Korea’s Nuclear Test
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Security Council began an emergency session today in New York to address the nuclear test North Korea said it conducted and the communist nation’s launch of three short-range missiles.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the tests “a grave threat to the peace and security of the world.”
Japan and South Korea condemned the nuclear test, North Korea’s first in three years, and called for the UN council to take action against the country. South Korea’s stocks and currency fell. China said it “resolutely opposes” the test, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
“North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community,” Obama said in an e-mailed statement from the White House. “Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea’s isolation.”
The tests, which fulfill a threat made last month, complicate Obama’s efforts to persuade the impoverished country to abandon nuclear weapons development in exchange for economic aid. Kim Jong Il’s government expelled nuclear inspectors and pulled out of disarmament talks after the Security Council censured North Korea for its April 5 missile launch.
“The United States and the international community must take action in response,” Obama told reporters in the White House Rose Garden today. “North Korea is not only deepening its own isolation, it’s also inviting stronger international pressure. We will work with our friends and allies to stand up to this behavior.”
‘Growing Belligerence’
The tests demonstrate North Korea’s “growing belligerence,” Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CBS television today. Continued development of nuclear weapons by North Korea would “pose a significant threat to the United States.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is “engaged in intensive diplomacy” concerning the tests and is speaking today with nations engaged in the six-party North Korea disarmament talks, according to a statement from spokesman Ian Kelly. Clinton “stressed the importance of a strong, unified approach to this threat to international peace and security,” Kelly’s statement said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is “deeply concerned that this act will negatively affect regional peace and stability as well as the global nuclear non-proliferation regime,” the UN said in a statement released in New York.
‘Unified Message’
Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said the Security Council should send a “a strong and unified message” asking North Korea to comply with UN resolutions and resume disarmament talks.
“The suddenness of the nuclear test shows North Korea following military, not diplomatic logic,” said Hideshi Takesada, a professor specializing in Korean issues at Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies. “They’re showing their nuclear strategies are being finalized. They want to be acknowledged as a nuclear power.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the underground detonation occurred at 9:54 a.m. in the northern city of Kilchu and had a yield of between 10 and 20 kilotons. If verified, the result would dwarf that of North Korea’s first nuclear blast in October 2006, which had a yield of less than one kiloton, according to the office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, which killed an estimated 140,000 people, had an estimated yield of 15 kilotons.
Higher Level Test
“The current nuclear test was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology,” North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement.
North Korea also fired three short-range missiles, one around noon and two more later in the day, an official with South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The first had a range of about 130 kilometers, Yonhap News said, quoting an unidentified diplomatic source. The second two were fired as a warning to U.S. spy planes monitoring the nuclear test site, the news service said.
Obama said in reaction to the first report that North Korea “appears to also have attempted a short-range missile launch.”
“We’re going to need major carrots and major sticks to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table,” said Cheong Seong Chang, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute in Seoul. “The U.S., South Korea and Japan will likely push for stronger sanctions at the UN Security Council.”
Security Council Resolution
The Security Council last month unanimously adopted a statement that said North Korea’s April 5 ballistic missile test was in “contravention” of a 2006 resolution barring the country from developing missile technology. That resolution, which was only implemented last month, froze the assets of and banned travel by “persons or entities” involved in nuclear and missile programs.
North Korea’s test “is in clear violation of the UNSC resolution,” Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”
South Korea’s Kospi index fell 2.9 points, or 0.2 percent. The won weakened 0.1 percent to 1,248.82 per dollar, after falling as much as 1.7 percent earlier.
South and North Korea remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended without a peace agreement.
‘Very Disappointing’
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak met with his security team, and called North Korea’s actions “very disappointing.” Aso also met with his top security officials. U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the test “erroneous, misguided and a danger to the world.” France will seek “tougher sanctions” from the UN, government spokesman Luc Chatel said.
Russia, which along with the U.S., Japan, China and South Korea is part of the six-nation North Korea disarmament talks, is “concerned” about the test, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Today’s launch demonstrates that North Korea’s generals are calling the shots on foreign policy, said Kenneth Quinones, former U.S. State Department director of North Korean affairs and a professor at Japan’s Akita International University.
“They’ve convinced Kim to bulk up their military capabilities in advance of any diplomacy,” Quinones said. “But they’re painting themselves into a corner.”
Obama last month called North Korea’s missile test, which Kim’s government maintains was a satellite launch, a “provocation” and demanded “a strong international response.” Stephen Bosworth, Obama’s special envoy for North Korea, this month visited Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo to drum up support for pressuring North Korea back to the negotiating table.
Kim Jong Il: Hans Brix? Oh no! Oh, herro. Great to see you again, Hans!
Hans Blix: Mr. Il, I was supposed to be allowed to inspect your palace today,
but your guards won't let me enter certain areas.
Kim Jong Il: Hans, Hans, Hans! We've been frew this a dozen times. I don't have any weapons of mass destwuction, OK Hans?
Hans Blix: Then let me look around, so I can ease the UN's collective mind. I'm sorry, but the UN must be firm with you. Let me in, or else.
Kim Jong Il: Or else what?
Hans Blix: Or else we will be very angry with you... and we will write you a letter, telling you how angry we are.
Kim Jong Il: OK, Hans. I'll show you. Stand to your reft.
Hans Blix: [Moves to the left]
Kim Jong Il: A rittle more.
Hans Blix: [Moves to the left again]
Kim Jong Il: Good.
[Opens up trap, Hans falls in]
Team America - World Police
Security Council Condemns N Korea Blast (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/North-Korea-Nuclear-Weapon-Test-Nuke-Test-Condemned-Around-World/Article/200905415287844?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15287844_North_Korea_Nuclear_Weapon_Te st%3A_Nuke_Test_Condemned_Around_World)
UN Security Council Meets After North Korea’s Nuclear Test
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Security Council began an emergency session today in New York to address the nuclear test North Korea said it conducted and the communist nation’s launch of three short-range missiles.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the tests “a grave threat to the peace and security of the world.”
Japan and South Korea condemned the nuclear test, North Korea’s first in three years, and called for the UN council to take action against the country. South Korea’s stocks and currency fell. China said it “resolutely opposes” the test, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
“North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community,” Obama said in an e-mailed statement from the White House. “Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea’s isolation.”
The tests, which fulfill a threat made last month, complicate Obama’s efforts to persuade the impoverished country to abandon nuclear weapons development in exchange for economic aid. Kim Jong Il’s government expelled nuclear inspectors and pulled out of disarmament talks after the Security Council censured North Korea for its April 5 missile launch.
“The United States and the international community must take action in response,” Obama told reporters in the White House Rose Garden today. “North Korea is not only deepening its own isolation, it’s also inviting stronger international pressure. We will work with our friends and allies to stand up to this behavior.”
‘Growing Belligerence’
The tests demonstrate North Korea’s “growing belligerence,” Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CBS television today. Continued development of nuclear weapons by North Korea would “pose a significant threat to the United States.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is “engaged in intensive diplomacy” concerning the tests and is speaking today with nations engaged in the six-party North Korea disarmament talks, according to a statement from spokesman Ian Kelly. Clinton “stressed the importance of a strong, unified approach to this threat to international peace and security,” Kelly’s statement said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is “deeply concerned that this act will negatively affect regional peace and stability as well as the global nuclear non-proliferation regime,” the UN said in a statement released in New York.
‘Unified Message’
Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said the Security Council should send a “a strong and unified message” asking North Korea to comply with UN resolutions and resume disarmament talks.
“The suddenness of the nuclear test shows North Korea following military, not diplomatic logic,” said Hideshi Takesada, a professor specializing in Korean issues at Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies. “They’re showing their nuclear strategies are being finalized. They want to be acknowledged as a nuclear power.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the underground detonation occurred at 9:54 a.m. in the northern city of Kilchu and had a yield of between 10 and 20 kilotons. If verified, the result would dwarf that of North Korea’s first nuclear blast in October 2006, which had a yield of less than one kiloton, according to the office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, which killed an estimated 140,000 people, had an estimated yield of 15 kilotons.
Higher Level Test
“The current nuclear test was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology,” North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement.
North Korea also fired three short-range missiles, one around noon and two more later in the day, an official with South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The first had a range of about 130 kilometers, Yonhap News said, quoting an unidentified diplomatic source. The second two were fired as a warning to U.S. spy planes monitoring the nuclear test site, the news service said.
Obama said in reaction to the first report that North Korea “appears to also have attempted a short-range missile launch.”
“We’re going to need major carrots and major sticks to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table,” said Cheong Seong Chang, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute in Seoul. “The U.S., South Korea and Japan will likely push for stronger sanctions at the UN Security Council.”
Security Council Resolution
The Security Council last month unanimously adopted a statement that said North Korea’s April 5 ballistic missile test was in “contravention” of a 2006 resolution barring the country from developing missile technology. That resolution, which was only implemented last month, froze the assets of and banned travel by “persons or entities” involved in nuclear and missile programs.
North Korea’s test “is in clear violation of the UNSC resolution,” Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”
South Korea’s Kospi index fell 2.9 points, or 0.2 percent. The won weakened 0.1 percent to 1,248.82 per dollar, after falling as much as 1.7 percent earlier.
South and North Korea remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended without a peace agreement.
‘Very Disappointing’
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak met with his security team, and called North Korea’s actions “very disappointing.” Aso also met with his top security officials. U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the test “erroneous, misguided and a danger to the world.” France will seek “tougher sanctions” from the UN, government spokesman Luc Chatel said.
Russia, which along with the U.S., Japan, China and South Korea is part of the six-nation North Korea disarmament talks, is “concerned” about the test, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Today’s launch demonstrates that North Korea’s generals are calling the shots on foreign policy, said Kenneth Quinones, former U.S. State Department director of North Korean affairs and a professor at Japan’s Akita International University.
“They’ve convinced Kim to bulk up their military capabilities in advance of any diplomacy,” Quinones said. “But they’re painting themselves into a corner.”
Obama last month called North Korea’s missile test, which Kim’s government maintains was a satellite launch, a “provocation” and demanded “a strong international response.” Stephen Bosworth, Obama’s special envoy for North Korea, this month visited Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo to drum up support for pressuring North Korea back to the negotiating table.
Kim Jong Il: Hans Brix? Oh no! Oh, herro. Great to see you again, Hans!
Hans Blix: Mr. Il, I was supposed to be allowed to inspect your palace today,
but your guards won't let me enter certain areas.
Kim Jong Il: Hans, Hans, Hans! We've been frew this a dozen times. I don't have any weapons of mass destwuction, OK Hans?
Hans Blix: Then let me look around, so I can ease the UN's collective mind. I'm sorry, but the UN must be firm with you. Let me in, or else.
Kim Jong Il: Or else what?
Hans Blix: Or else we will be very angry with you... and we will write you a letter, telling you how angry we are.
Kim Jong Il: OK, Hans. I'll show you. Stand to your reft.
Hans Blix: [Moves to the left]
Kim Jong Il: A rittle more.
Hans Blix: [Moves to the left again]
Kim Jong Il: Good.
[Opens up trap, Hans falls in]
Team America - World Police