 President Lee Myung-bak scratches his forehead after hearing a report that North Korea carried out another nuclear test, during a meeting with Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. / Korea Times Photo by Sohn Yong-seok |
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
North Korea said it conducted a second underground nuclear test "successfully" Monday, about a month after it threatened to resume nuclear and missile testing to protest the UN condemnation of its April 5 rocket launch.
On the same day, the North also test-fired three short-range surface-to-air missiles from a military base near a site where the nuclear test was presumed to have been conducted, South Korea's presidential office said.
Immediately after the test was confirmed, the government said it agreed with Japan to ask the U.N. Security Council to deal more sternly with the Stalinist regime and was also talking with China and Russia, the North's allies, to prepare countermeasures. Cheong Wa Dae issued a statement to denounce the experiment while President Lee Myung-bak ordered the military to strengthen defense readiness at an emergency security meeting.
Pyongyang didn't say where the test was conducted, but the South's geological agency said it detected an earthquake measuring magnitude 4.5 at 9:54 a.m. Monday at the North's northeastern village of Punggye-ri where the first test took place in October 2006.
Intelligence sources said an earthquake with a 3.8 magnitude was reported in 2006, but this time the explosion was stronger, indicating the North's nuclear technology has advanced despite international denuclearization efforts. Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee, however, told at a hastily convened hearing of Defense Committee lawmakers that it was early to call Pyongyang a ``nuclear power.''
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``The nuclear technology will help us not only bolster nuclear deterrent for self-defense, but also strengthen peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas,'' the announcement said.
Cheong Wa Dae condemned the North and said it would work closely with the international community to counter the nuclear provocation. President Lee convened a meeting of the National Security Council shortly after the test was reported. North Korea had informed the United States and China about the second nuke test, a source from the presidential office said.
``Lee expressed disappointment at the North and instructed his Cabinet to strengthen defense readiness and security measures,'' presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.
``South Korea is working closely with other countries involved in the six-nation talks on the North's nuclear development ― the U.S., Japan, China and Russia ― to map out measures. It is needless to say the test is a grave security concern not only for neighboring countries, but for the whole world.''
Lee discussed the situation with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and the leaders of other allies in the afternoon. The South's plan to join the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led program aimed at preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, was not discussed at the security meeting, according to a presidential spokesperson.
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he believed North Korea had already manufactured several nuclear bombs. The Pentagon in an annual defense report categorized the North as one of the nuclear powers in Asia, alongside China, India, Pakistan and Russia.
Last month, the six-member U.N. Security Council adopted a statement to denounce the April 5 launch of a long-range rocket and to impose sanctions.
In response, the North vowed to quit the six-party denuclearization talks and restore frozen nuclear facilities and expelled inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, who were monitoring its main Yongbyon nuclear facility.
jj@koreatimes.co.kr
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