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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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 Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 8:27 pm Post subject: Report: NK preparing site for nuke test |
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I heard a report on CNN tonight so I checked the internet and found the same report:
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U.S. spy satellites have detected what may be preparations for North Korea's first test of a nuclear weapon, although analysts believe it could be a calculated ruse on Pyongyang's part, a U.S. defense official said Friday.
The satellite images show North Korea has dug and refilled a significant hole at a suspected test site in Gilju in the northeastern part of the country, said the official, discussing intelligence only on the condition of anonymity. The hole was dug in a manner consistent with preparations for an underground nuclear test, although it is not known whether the North Koreans deposited a weapon inside, the official said.
In addition, the official said, they have built some bleachers a sufficient distance from the hole, presumably for viewing any test.
Officials elsewhere in the U.S. government played down the remarks.
One who spoke on condition of anonymity said activity at the site could be consistent with preparations for a nuclear test, but other explanations are also possible.
The official said the U.S. government's working assumption is that North Korea could test with little notice and is believed to have the technical capability to do so. Its decision is considered to be one of politics.
Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said he didn't want to get into discussing intelligence matters. "But what I would say is that if North Korea did take such a step, that would just be another provocative act that would further isolate it from the international community."
"All countries in the region are committed to seeing a nuclear-free peninsula," McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One as President Bush traveled on the first leg of a five-day, four-country visit to central and eastern Europe...
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Rumors that another country has nukes is unsettling. The Nork official bragging that they have nukes was un-nerving; the prospect of the North demonstrating that they in fact do have nukes is frightening.
Question: Suppose you wake up tomorrow to a report that the North has tested a nuke. What would your reaction be?
I would have to seriously consider leaving Korea. I don't know what my final decision would be, but I would have to think very seriously about bailing out.
Would anyone take a free ticket to watch the nuke test and sit in the bleachers? Under any circumstances? |
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Daechidong Waygookin
Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Location: No Longer on Dave's. Ive quit.
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| Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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Nukes are bad. Thinking about it, and looking at the USSR-USA cold war and recently Pakistan and India, can a case be made for nukes actually making co-existance more peaceful? For whatever reason, Pakistani-Indian relations have never been better. The US and USSR never went to open war against each other. No nuke power has ever attacked another.
Does the test change anything, really? They already said they have nukes. Unless you are operating under the assumption that they are bluffing, this will be nothing but a confirmation of what everyone pretty much knows. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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For whatever reason, Pakistani-Indian relations have never been better. The US and USSR never went to open war against each other. No nuke power has ever attacked another.
Does the test change anything, really? |
Of course everyone hopes you are right, but you are basing your position on very limited history. Before Pakistan/India, only two enemies had nukes. We were very very close to nuclear war in '62. There are several instances where accidental nuclear exchanges almost occurred. Almost. With each new bomb, regardless of who has it, the danger increases.
India and Pakistan haven't been in a crisis situation since testing their nukes. What are the chances that will continue?
I think a test could change everything. I'm one who does not consider KJI to be an altogether stable man. I'm not fully convinced Bush is totally in contact with reality. (That's mainly because some of his friends think the end of the world is coming next Tuesday morning. I'm not sure how he feels about that.)
Another thing. It may be true that having roughly equivalent numbers of nukes makes war impossible. Having only a couple, giving you the capability of injuring but not destroying your more heavily armed enemy, just makes you a target. It would be much easier to make the case for a pre-emptive strike before the North develops more, or bigger.
Anyway, I hope your optimism is justified and not just blind. |
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Daechidong Waygookin
Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Location: No Longer on Dave's. Ive quit.
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| Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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| yeah, but theyve been aopen about it for ages. Nothing has happeend. |
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rapier
Joined: 16 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 1:21 am Post subject: |
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If you were of a jittery disposition, I guess you'd be changeing your won into dollars and checking out a new teaching destination right now.
A nuke test would change everything here.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4523697.stm |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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| The fact they are digging now is not a clear indication that they are planning a test as they are always digging underground tunnels. |
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Koreabound2004
Joined: 19 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting excerpt from an article:
The irradiation of the global environment has been a uniquely cooperative endeavor, with all of the world��s nuclear superpowers contributing to the toll. The United States has carried out 1,030 nuclear weapons tests (the last on September 23, 1993); the former Soviet Union: 715 tests; France: 210 tests; England: 45 tests; China: 45 tests
http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/26/12/news2.shtml |
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Summer Wine
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: Next to a River
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| Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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I believe that what calmed the situation down a little was the recognition that India would have a 7 minute warning that the capital would have a nuclear attack done on it. Thus acting beligerent was in nobodies interest as it may cause tensions and problems that may be resolveable otherwise.
It was a comment by an Indian general prior to new missiles by Pakistan that India could accept losses of 60 or so million and still survive as some areas of India were outside Pakistans missile range that gave me the greater pause of thought.
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| For whatever reason, Pakistani-Indian relations have never been better. |
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