N. Korea conducts second nuclear test, UN holds emergency meeting

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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The hardline communist state, which stunned the world by testing an atomic bomb for the first time in October 2006, had threatened another test after the U.N. Security Council censured it following a long-range rocket launch in April. 

The North "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," AFP quoted the official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, as saying.

"The current nuclear test was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology," it said.

The KCNA report did not say where the test was conducted. South Korean officials said a tremor was detected around the northeastern town of Kilju, near where the first was staged.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said the tremor measured 4.5 on the Richter Scale compared to 3.6 in October 2006.

China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States have been negotiating since 2003 to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for energy and security guarantees.

The negotiations led to an agreement signed in 2007, under which the North said it would dismantle its nuclear facilities. The deal bogged down last December over ways to verify the North’s declared nuclear activities.

In April the North irked the international community with a long-range rocket launch, a move that many nations said was actually a ballistic missile test.

After the Security Council condemned the launch and tightened sanctions, the North vowed to conduct a second nuclear test as well as ballistic missile tests unless the world body apologized.

It also announced that it was quitting the six-way talks, which are hosted by its closest ally China, and would restart its plutonium-making program.

Analysts believe the North has stockpiled enough plutonium for six to 12 small nuclear bombs. Its first test was seen as only partially successful, with a yield of less than one kiloton.

U.N. MEETING
Russia, current chair of the U.N. Security Council, convened an emergency meeting of the 15-member body later Monday to discuss the issue, while Japan and South Korea formed crisis management teams.

Leaders around the world strongly condemned North Korea's nuclear test. U.S. President Barack Obama called it a matter of grave concern to all nations and Japan demanded action by the Security Council.

"North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," Obama was quoted by AP as saying in a statement. "North Korea's behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia."

Obama said Washington will be working in the days ahead with the Security Council and other nations that have been trying to persuade North Korea to give up on its nuclear ambitions.
 
The European Union, Britain and France added their voices to the chorus of international concern after the communist North said it had carried out its second nuclear test.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Takeo Kawamura, said the test was unacceptable and a violation of a U.N. Security Council Resolution.

North Korea has frequently said it needs a nuclear deterrent to prevent any attack.

Leader Kim Jong-Il, 67, was widely reported to have suffered a stroke last August, prompting speculation overseas about the succession. The North’s position has noticeably hardened since then.

Monday’s test was staged while South Korea was in mourning for former president, Roh Moo-Hyun, who leapt to his death Saturday after being questioned in a corruption probe.

Roh had always championed engagement with the North, and Kim Jong-Il sent condolences to his family.