North Korea nuclear test shocks, angers world

The Issue

On Monday, North Korea tested what is believed to have been a nuclear bomb. The crisis did not begin on Monday, however. Rather, tensions over North Korea's weapons program have been building since 2002, when a United States official pressed North Korean officials over uranium enrichment. North Korea admitted to carrying out a secret nuclear arms program. In late 2002 it began repairs and development on its weapons facilities. In late December, International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors were kicked out of the country, and in January 2003 it pulled out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Treaty was designed to prevent the spread of technology and existing nuclear weapons to non-nuclear states. In February and March of 2003, North Korea fired two missiles into the sea separating the Korean peninsula and Japan. In May, North Korea pulled out of an agreement with South Korea to keep nuclear weapons off the Korean peninsula. In the meantime, North Korea had been reprocessing fuel rods and claiming that it had nuclear weapons. August 2003 brought the start of six-party talks involving North Korea, China, the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan. The purpose of the talks was to reach an agreement on North Korea's weapons program. However, the U.S. and North Korea engaged in a series of diplomatic squabbles, and the talks ultimately broke down with no kind of agreement. In July 2006, North Korea fired at least seven missiles into the Sea of Japan in a show of defiance to the international community. On Oct. 3, North Korea announced its intention to conduct a nuclear test, and on Monday the test was carried out. However, according to Michael Chambers, associate professor of political science, the size of the explosion, the equivalent of 550 tons of TNT, was so small that "whether North Korea has tested a nuclear weapon is not yet fully clear." The international community quickly condemned the presumed nuclear test, and even China, North Korea's closest ally, was outraged. On Tuesday China urged the United Nations Security Council to take action. However, it all but ruled out the use of force against North Korea, with South Korea taking a position similar to China's. Russia has been reluctant to take any kind of action, either diplomatic or forceful, against North Korea in the past. However, even Russia has said it was willing to work with other countries to resolve the crisis peacefully. Iran, on the other hand, is the only country to show support for North Korea. Iran is currently facing action by the Security Council for its own nuclear weapons program. If it is confirmed that North Korea indeed tested a nuclear weapon, it will join an elite club of nuclear powers. The other openly nuclear states include China, the United States, Russia, Pakistan, Great Britain, France and India. Although a nuclear weapon might have been tested, that alone does not guarantee that North Korea has the capacity to launch a nuclear warhead, nor is it assured that this particular nuclear weapon was a fully-developed device.