February 11, 2009 5:52 PM
- Text
N. Korea Preparing For Another Nuke Test?
(CBS/AP)
No sooner had an analysis of air samples taken by an Air Force plane over the Sea of Japan confirmed that the North Koreans had indeed set off a nuclear device, than U.S. intelligence picked up signs of activity at an underground test site, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin, raising the possibility that the North Koreans might test again.
"We're watching it, obviously, and discussing it with other parties, as well," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "I think it goes to say that it would further deepen the isolation of North Korea and I hope they would not take such a provocative act."
South Korea is aware of signs related to possible preparations for an additional North Korea nuclear test, Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed government officials. One official said various intelligence reports were coming in about a possible test, but that it was unclear how reliable they were.
Meanwhile, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte's office confirmed that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion. In a short statement posted on its Web site, Negroponte's office confirmed that the size of the explosion was less than 1 kiloton, a comparatively small nuclear explosion. Each kiloton is equal to the force produced by 1,000 tons of TNT.
That's less than one-tenth the size of the atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945, CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports. That could indicate that North Korea was unable to produce a bigger yield from its weapon.
"Analysis of air samples collected on October 11, 2006, detected radioactive debris which confirms that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion in the vicinity of P'unggye on October 9, 2006," the statement said.
On Friday, a senior Bush administration official told The Associated Press that one test conducted on samples gathered after the detonation found a radioactive gas consistent with a nuclear explosion. At the time, however, U.S. intelligence was not ready to confirm that a nuclear test actually had taken place.
The statement from Negroponte's office provides the first official confirmation from the United States that a nuclear detonation took place, as Pyongyang has claimed.
Meanwhile, North Korea appeared to slip further into isolation, as China — under intense pressure to enforce new U.N. sanctions — inspected cargo trucks bound for its communist ally and stepped up construction of a border fence.
Japan — once a major trading partner with the North Korea — said it was considering further sanctions, and Australia banned the North's ships from its ports.
The Chinese inspections at a border crossing with the North came amid concerns that Beijing would ignore the new U.N. sanctions leveled against the reclusive communist country for its proclaimed nuclear test. China is a major trader with North Korea and its support is key to the success of the new U.N. measures, which call for nations to check cargo leaving and arriving from North Korea.
"Chinese action on cargo inspection appears to have been prompted as much by a fear of reprisal after the U.N. vote as it is by the mandate of the resolution itself," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.
"Chinese diplomats have made clear that they don't expect to participate in inspection of ship cargo, either as part of the voluntary U.N. provision, or as part of the U.S.-sponsored Proliferation Security Initiative," Falk reports, "but the inspection of land-based cargo has been occurring for some time as part of routine security and may increase."
China's customs agency and its commerce and foreign ministries refused to say whether the cargo checks were prompted by U.N. sanctions, but a top U.S. diplomat said the inspections were promising.
R. Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said there will be "enormous pressure on China to live up to their responsibility" in enforcing United Nations punishment of its ally, North Korea. "We are all banking on that."
But former State Department official Jack Pritchard says the sanctions so far are not enough to make the North Koreans regret testing, reports Martin.
"It's going to require some other measure of intervention to get the North Koreans to stop from what they're doing," Pritchard told Martin. Sanctions alone are certainly not going to work."
"We're watching it, obviously, and discussing it with other parties, as well," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "I think it goes to say that it would further deepen the isolation of North Korea and I hope they would not take such a provocative act."
South Korea is aware of signs related to possible preparations for an additional North Korea nuclear test, Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed government officials. One official said various intelligence reports were coming in about a possible test, but that it was unclear how reliable they were.
Meanwhile, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte's office confirmed that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion. In a short statement posted on its Web site, Negroponte's office confirmed that the size of the explosion was less than 1 kiloton, a comparatively small nuclear explosion. Each kiloton is equal to the force produced by 1,000 tons of TNT.
That's less than one-tenth the size of the atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945, CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports. That could indicate that North Korea was unable to produce a bigger yield from its weapon.
"Analysis of air samples collected on October 11, 2006, detected radioactive debris which confirms that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion in the vicinity of P'unggye on October 9, 2006," the statement said.
On Friday, a senior Bush administration official told The Associated Press that one test conducted on samples gathered after the detonation found a radioactive gas consistent with a nuclear explosion. At the time, however, U.S. intelligence was not ready to confirm that a nuclear test actually had taken place.
The statement from Negroponte's office provides the first official confirmation from the United States that a nuclear detonation took place, as Pyongyang has claimed.
Meanwhile, North Korea appeared to slip further into isolation, as China — under intense pressure to enforce new U.N. sanctions — inspected cargo trucks bound for its communist ally and stepped up construction of a border fence.
Japan — once a major trading partner with the North Korea — said it was considering further sanctions, and Australia banned the North's ships from its ports.
The Chinese inspections at a border crossing with the North came amid concerns that Beijing would ignore the new U.N. sanctions leveled against the reclusive communist country for its proclaimed nuclear test. China is a major trader with North Korea and its support is key to the success of the new U.N. measures, which call for nations to check cargo leaving and arriving from North Korea.
"Chinese action on cargo inspection appears to have been prompted as much by a fear of reprisal after the U.N. vote as it is by the mandate of the resolution itself," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.
"Chinese diplomats have made clear that they don't expect to participate in inspection of ship cargo, either as part of the voluntary U.N. provision, or as part of the U.S.-sponsored Proliferation Security Initiative," Falk reports, "but the inspection of land-based cargo has been occurring for some time as part of routine security and may increase."
China's customs agency and its commerce and foreign ministries refused to say whether the cargo checks were prompted by U.N. sanctions, but a top U.S. diplomat said the inspections were promising.
R. Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said there will be "enormous pressure on China to live up to their responsibility" in enforcing United Nations punishment of its ally, North Korea. "We are all banking on that."
But former State Department official Jack Pritchard says the sanctions so far are not enough to make the North Koreans regret testing, reports Martin.
"It's going to require some other measure of intervention to get the North Koreans to stop from what they're doing," Pritchard told Martin. Sanctions alone are certainly not going to work."
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Scott Conroy Scott Conroy is a National Political Reporter for RealClearPolitics and a contributor for CBS News.
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