Sanctions Against N. Korea Weighed

U.N. Considering U.S. Draft With Tough Sanctions After Reported Nuke Test

(CBS/AP)  Reports about the size of the explosion were conflicting. Only Russia said the blast was a nuclear explosion, but the reaction of world governments reflected little doubt that they were treating the announcement as fact.

"We have no doubts that it (the test) was nuclear," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

Nuclear blasts give off clear seismic signatures that differentiate them from other explosions, said Friedrich Steinhaeusler, a professor of physics at Salzburg University. Even if the bomb the North Koreans detonated was small, sensors in South Korea would likely be close enough to categorize the explosion as nuclear, he said.

"I think we have to take them at their word. They're not the type of regime to bluff," said Peter Beck, a Seoul-based analyst for conflict resolution think tank International Crisis Group.

Although North Korea has long claimed it had the capability to produce a bomb, the test would be the first manifest proof that it had done so. A nuclear armed North Korea would dramatically alter the strategic balance of power in the Pacific region and would undermine already fraying global anti-proliferation efforts.

"The development and possession of nuclear weapons by North Korea will in a major way transform the security environment in North Asia and we will be entering a new, dangerous nuclear age," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a news conference in Seoul after a summit with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

Abe, facing his first major foreign policy test since his recent election, called for a "calm yet stern response." Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso warned such a test would "severely endanger not only Northeast Asia but also the world stability."

South Korea said it had put its military on high alert, but it had noticed no unusual activity among North Korea's troops.

China, the North's closest ally and its main source of food, expressed its "resolute opposition" to the reported test and urged the North to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks. It said the North "defied the universal opposition of international society and flagrantly conducted the nuclear test."

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Cabinet that Moscow "certainly condemns the test conducted by North Korea."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the test was a "completely irresponsible act."

Meanwhile, Security Council members demanded North Korea return to the stalled negotiations on its nuclear program, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod.

But North Korea has refused for a year to attend six-party international talks aimed at persuading it to disarm, calling for the U.S. to drop sanctions it has imposed to punish it for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. It pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003 after U.S. officials accused it of a secret nuclear program, allegedly violating an earlier nuclear pact between Washington and Pyongyang.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the test was successful, with no leak of radiation.

North Korean scientists "successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions," the government-controlled agency said, adding this was "a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation."

"It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the ... people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability," KCNA said. "It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it."

South Korea said the test was conducted at 10:36 a.m. in Hwaderi near Kilju city on the northeast coast. South Korean intelligence officials said the seismic wave had been detected in North Hamkyung province, the agency said.

North Korea was added to the agenda of an already scheduled Security Council meeting that officially nominated South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to succeed Kofi Annan as Secretary-General, and he said he would work to resolve the North Korean crisis.

The Security Council resolution adopted in July imposed limited sanctions on North Korea and demanded that the reclusive communist nation suspend its ballistic missile program — a demand the North immediately rejected.

The resolution bans all U.N. member states from selling material or technology for missiles or weapons of mass destruction to North Korea — and it bans all countries from receiving missiles, banned weapons or technology from Pyongyang.

North Korea is believed to have enough radioactive material for about a half-dozen bombs. It insists its nuclear program is necessary to deter a U.S. invasion.

North Korea has active missile programs, but it isn't believed to have an atomic bomb design small and light enough to be mounted on a long-range rocket that could strike targets as far as the United States.

South Korea had planned to ship 4,000 tons of cement to the North on Tuesday as emergency relief following massive flooding, but decided to delay it, Yonhap reported, quoting an unidentified Unification Ministry official.

South Korea had said the one-time aid shipment was separate from its regular humanitarian aid to the North, which it halted after Pyongyang's missile launches in July.

Impoverished and isolated North Korea has relied on foreign aid to feed its 23 million people since its state-run farming system collapsed in the 1990s following decades of mismanagement and the loss of Soviet subsidies.

[drgoodwin12]

Let us all pray and demand that the company who has created anti-matter(I beleive it is swedish,to early and not enough time to give you the name)stops all development and destroys all information that can be used to make it.Anti-matter is so powerful that if used as a weapon 1 ounce of it could literally destroy N.Y.City.Second let us get rid of all the ingredients namely uranium by buying or seizing it.No more nuclear power plants that lead to nuclear bombs.

[teo.blu]

NOW is the time to remind Americans that the person who sold nuclear technology to North Koreans is no other than US DEFENSE SECRETARY DONALD RUMSFELD.
DONALD RUMSFELD sat on the board of directors of ABB, European engineering giant based in Zurich, between 1990 to 2001, (earning $190,000 a year) when ABB sold two light water nuclear reactors to North Korea.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,952289,00.html

Why CBS News never reported this???

[drgoodwin12]

Time for a new policy,that prevents countries or individuals from obtaining the necesarry ingredients to make nuclear bombs.Nuclear energy is not a safe source,to many countries have used that as their premise for obtaining uranium only to make nuclear weapons.N.Korea.Stop the source of ingedients by buying or seizing all of them.Then ecologically destroy all of it.

[drgoodwin12]

To Agnim I agree with you on saying that the other users comments are off base I am being nice,not using the word you used.It took Einsehower to get us out of the Korea war.Truman had started the process and Eisenhower finish it.The reason why I bring this up is that our own military assessment of a conflict with N.Korea or Iran even if we were out of Iraq is bleak.They both have large armies and they both have weapons to counter ours(Iran does not currently have a nuclear weapon).It would be foolish to use military actions,look at their allies some of which proclaim to be ours.Regardess of who is on the ballot in 08 vote for an ex general for president.Powell or Clark for example write them in.The conflict with these two countries will not be resolved before then and it will take an ex general or current to get our country out of this mess along with a congress that will work with them.The republicans have lost Americas trust as reflected in the latest Zogby poll,so it looks like we will have a democratic congress before then,there are enough constituitonal tools at their disposal and at ours to impeach the current president and V.P. and draft a new president perhaps a general.The fault lies in the nuclear proliferation treaty implemantion,it is a failed policy.continued

[agnim]

Hey,tibu987, that "stupid plan" should work equally well with equally stupid warmongers, yes?

Notice that the Koreans are in their OWN space.
Guess who is out of place on the Korean Peninsula?
Guess who should bring the troops home state side?

And your childish attitude about blowing Korea away is what got us deeply into this mess in the first place. Ignorance and arrogance will get us more than a 911 this time.

Have you forgotten 911.
If you think that was a rude awakening for Americans (beside you, touhg guy)then you ain't seen nothing yet.

What we need are intelligent leaders, not cowboys from the wild wild west who are oblivious of their mortality because they are super power-drunk.

[johnsixtysix]

Why do we think we can tell other countries that they can or cannot have nuclear weapons?

Either all of us can have them or none of us can have them.

[thomas_hoag]

Once again, the useless tack of sanctions will push North Korea to the brink as it did Nazi Germany two-thirds of a century ago.

[tibu987]

This situation would be laughable if it weren't so potentially dangerous. This simple man, whose country has suffered for years, has come up with a rather stupid plan to negotiate with the U.S. In either case, he loses. Let him throw his weight around too heavily and the U.S. will blow him and his half of the country away. I don't think that will happen. Interesting though, we will see.

[gladetryst]

Agnim has a good comment down below.

[jw218389]

Clinton had it all worked out with Peace and RECORD PROSPERITY...

But there was cattle rustlers on the horizon...

Next thing ya know GW Bush Texas (Maine?)swaggered into our White House and started swinging the bar doors open and proclaimed that he was a taken them thar Axis of Evils to the a shoot out at the OK Corral.

Course that mean hombre' GW Bush (hardend by his childhood of ropin' & brandin' calfs on the dirt streets of Kennebunkport, Maine) had a score to settle with his cattle rustlin' rival Senior Hussein from "not Texas."

GW moved in with a posse and took out Hussein while he was sleeping behind the chuck wagon and YEE HAW we got ourselves a war.

YEEE HAAAAWWWW!!! A NUKE - YOU - LER War!!

Thanks George W. for your cowboy diplomacy - and for proving Barbara right when she called JEB, "the smart one."

[agnim]

All this hand wringing over Korean nuke is laughable when so many nations have so many nukes hiding in their closets. What grant the possessors of nukes rights over everyone else?

Who is the ONLY country to ever use nukes?

To say, "we can have nukes; but you can't" is ignorance, arrogance, condescension, and bullying.

And some human somewhere on the planet isn't going to stand being bullied.
That is the nature of human existence. Remember Vietnam?
People from old cultures don%u2019t bow to neophytes, no matter how poor and backward they may SEEM. Koreans are from an old culture far more mature than America%u2018s 200 year old %u2018culture%u2018.

Those who fail to appreciate that reality will either be made to look like a fool, or to look by an even bigger fool by taking rash actions that can only lead to great destruction.

[drgoodwin12]

Everybody ones to blame someone else for the current situation.History could palce the blame Truman when he called Mccarther back as he was going into China who was supporting the N.Koreans,it is all irrelevant to todays situation.There were UN inspectors in N.Korea up until about two years ago.Nuke them someone suggested,take at look at our so called allies in the region and you will see this is not plausible.Allow them to have nuclear weapons,we already have.Nuclear proliferation regardless of where needs to be thought out with a more comphrensive plan than the ones currently in place.All adminstrations have failed the world in this regard.It is time for a new strategy.

[brianp55]

Nuke em.

[gaye5]

The current members of the nuclear club are the United States, Russia, Britain, France, India, Pakistan and China. hmmm.
Now lets look at from north Korea's stance, they see other countries have nuclear, and these same countries say that they cant, hmmm.

[drgoodwin12]

To laurieleemoo have you ever been in the military in combat?I have when the Vietnam war protest was at all time high and do you think I cared or thought for one second what other countries let alone my own thought about President Nixon?No,my mind was on one thing survival,iraq reminds me of Vietnam families,children being recruited and used as shields.And what do you think I thought when a woman with a baby in arms and a grenade in her hand.Survival,you are taught that in the military and you better not forget it,never take your eyes or ears off your surroundings.Dissent is what makes this country great,we can agree to disagree and we have the freedom to speak our minds.It does not matter who is president or a member of congress if they fail the American people.It is time to change course in Iraq not retreat,it is time to change the way we approach nuclear proliferation. And the list goes on and on.

[exusmcsgt]

laurieleemoo-

Have you ever considered that a president who divides rather than unites might have something to do with the situation?

[drgoodwin12]

to laurieleemoo so you supported Nixon who was forced to resign because of impeachment along with v.p.agnew?Ones support for a president or a member of congress should be based on their record not their office.The Lewinsky scandal was bad but not nearly as bad as all of the republicans who molested children here is the link http://www.armchairsubversive.com/
The list of republicans molesting children is to long to print here so go read the link.Look at where N.korea is situated on a map and tell me how many friends do we truly have there to impose sanctions let alone secure their borders from weapon smuggling.It is an ugly world right now and we need a change of goverment.If the democrats cannot(providing they win)make our world any safer and better for our children then we the people will have to create a viable third party that can.It is obvious to me that this group of republicans cannot.There are good republicans Warner and Powell to name a few but to many have walk lock stock and barrel with Bush.You obviously areyoungnot old enough to remember Nixon.If you would take the time to read any of the books I have mentioned and Woodwards (who also is a republican)and besides the first ladys pr office has not been rebuked.Laura Bush has not rebuked Woodward.It is time to realize that Bush and his Rovettes need to go.Unfortunatly there currently is no one beside perhaps Warner or Biden that could carry our country forward until 2008.

[tibu987]

laurieleemo,
Your blind following of whomever is the President is precisely what is wrong with so many voters.
It is scary to me. Yes, even a president can make mistakes due to poor judgement. Blindly agreeing does not make you more patriotic, just more misled by the power of the office.
Reminds me of this quotation:

%u201CSerge, this boy is very intelligent, but I can't keep working with him.
He agrees with everything I say.%u201D

Luis Bunuel to Jean-Claude Carriere
in the biog. By John Baxter , p.269

[laurieleemoo]

I know we are not shooting guns at each other, but Gawd I would just love for the world to see our unity and our strength. To the world---we seem weak and I don't like that at all. I want the world to view us as a STRONG, UNIFIED nation and its quite obvious they are picking up on all the President Bush Bashing. Its just not good for our country

[laurieleemoo]

Oh, and I'm sure I've been called names, but it doesn't bother me...."sticks and stones can break my bones, but words Can Never Hurt Me" (I'm a true believer in that old saying). So, its okay if they call me names---it doesn't bother me. Have at it whoever wants to. Actually, it usually makes me laugh when I see people get so mad they call me names.