Hmm…so much for George W. Bush’s determination to keep North Korea nuclear free. It is another example of the ridiculous and impossible international agenda he has buffaloed the citizens of the U.S into believing. What are the ramifications of this? They are huge! China has shown that it is either unwilling or unable to reign in Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il has finally succeeded in raising himself to the status of his father and securing his position. South Korea, which has been giving in to blackmail of food and fuel for years in order to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula is going to be forced to consider this sudden change in position. The South Korean people are probably feeling fairly bitter towards their government and towards the United States at the moment and you can expect that there will be a negative effect on the booming South Korean economy because of this suddenly very real threat. This will have effects on other Asian economies in the nearby area. Most notably, you can expect to see Japan doing away with their defense only policies and probably creating a nuclear deterrant stockpile in the very near future. This will most likely cause some heavy waves in the Korea’s and China where memories of what a militant Japan means are still alive. Kim Jong Il has done what he said he would. George Bush and Company have not. Go figure….
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North Korea says nuclear test successful –
SEOUL, South Korea –
North Korea said Monday it has performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test. U.S. and South Korean officials could not immediately confirm the report.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said information still needed to be analyzed to determine whether North Korea truly conducted the test.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the underground test was performed successfully and there was no radioactive leakage from the site.
South Korean intelligence officials said a seismic wave of magnitude-3.58 had been detected in North Hamkyung province, according to Yonhap. It said the test was conducted at 10:36 a.m. (9:36 p.m. EDT Sunday) in Hwaderi near Kilju city on the northeast coast, citing defense officials.
North Korean scientists “successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions,” the KCNA report 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.”