Nuke Test In North Korea Forces U.N. Emergency Meeting, Scolding From President Obama

North Korea has tested a second nuclear device, prompting an emergency meeting of the United Nations and a scolding from President Barack Obama.

On the same day that North Korea claimed it had tested a nuclear weapon underground, media in South Korea reported that the other half of the divided country has test-fired another two short-range missiles.

Obama accused the country of defying the international community in what he termed a reckless action.

The U.S. leader was not alone in his condemnation. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called North Korea “a danger to the world,” and the U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting.

North Korea has long been urged to give up its nuclear program, but promises of aid and threats of economic sanctions have not deterred Pyongyang’s ambitions.

The latest test only increases those fears. It also leaves open the possibility that North Korea may be selling its nuclear technology to other countries, especially Syria.

Protestors participate in a rally against North Korea on May 25, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images.

---

North Korea And Nukes

 

It’s the world’s nightmare: an unstable, secretive and even hostile regime being armed with the ultimate power of a nuclear weapon. What is the fallout from the successful North Korea test? Here’s a look at what it may mean.

 

Not the first time

 

It’s been very hard to know what’s really going on in North Korea, because of the leadership of its secretive and paranoid president-for-life Kim Jong-il. But the country is known to have exploded a nuclear device in 2006. The difference: that one packed a relatively low yield.

 

North Korea has been playing a game of chicken with the west ever since, insisting it would stop its nuclear program in exchange for lessened U.N. sanctions. But this latest test shows it clearly hasn’t stopped anything.

 

How many nukes could they have and how effective would they be?

 

The best guess is they have enough plutonium to put together six to eight weapons. But they’re not believed to have a system capable of delivering them very far, leaving any immediate threat restricted to the region for now. That means countries like Japan and South Korea, which have long eyed Kim with suspicion and worry.

 

Advanced technology from the U.S. and the other countries in the region may mean a real major threat would be stifled for at least the next few years.

 

Can diplomacy stop them?

 

It’s unlikely. North Korea has used a nuclear threat as a bargaining chip for years, and it’s probably not going to give that up now. Kim is outnumbered and facing increasing global pressure to stop developing the weapons. He sees this as the great equalizer.

 

Why North Korea isn’t the biggest threat

 

The problem may not just be a North Korea with weapons. Its leadership is aware that any action it takes on its neighbours would be met be an immediate and lethal response by the U.S.

 

The real threat could be that the country, which has no real moral compass, is more than willing to sell its technology to others who want to join the nuclear club. The U.S. believes North Korea helped kick start Syria’s race to develop a nuclear program.

 

Would the always cash-strapped country be willing to sell similar secrets to terrorist groups like al-Qaida? The answer is a giant question mark in the middle of an already big uncertainty.