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Isotopes hint at North Korean nuclear test Data suggest that the country has experimented with a fusion boost to its fission weapons. Geoff Brumfiel 03 February 2012 /snip Isotope detective De Geer’s theory rests on the detection of several short-lived radioisotopes that are generated during man-made nuclear processes. Ratios of xenon-133 and xenon-133m (a higher-energy, ‘metastable’ form of the isotope) point towards an explosion in mid-April. The ratio of more short-lived isotopes — barium-140 and its radioactive decay product lanthanum-140 — pointed to a second test around 11 May. Indeed, the presence of barium-140 can be explained only by a...

North Korea may conduct 3rd nuclear test if talks remain stalled SEOUL (Kyodo) -- North Korea might conduct a third nuclear test or again test-launch a long-range missile if the six-party talks on its denuclearization are not resumed, a senior South Korean presidential aide told a security forum Friday. "I think that North Korea could test-launch a long-range missile or conduct a third nuclear test if denuclearization talks with South Korea and the U.S. fail," Kim Tae Hyo, deputy national security advisor to President Lee Myung Bak, was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency. North Korea conducted nuclear tests...

US Researcher:N. Korea's 3rd Nuke Test Likely to be HEU A senior US researcher says it is highly likely Pyeongyang will test a highly enriched uranium bomb for its third nuclear test and that Kim Jong-il will never give up nuclear weapons. At the 2011 Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore Sunday, Jonathan Pollack of the Brookings Institute wrote in a report that North Korea has a well planned nuclear program that the leadership deems a vital component of the regime's survival. Saying neither the US nor China can force North Korea to give up nuclear weapons, Pollack added that Pyeongyang's dependence...

/begin my summary N. Korea Digging Several Tunnels at Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site At least 2 or 3 of them. L-shaped tunnels. Digging several of them to find the best one for the test. Clear indication of conducting 3rd nuclear test. /end my summary

Activity at N.Korean Nuclear Sites Sparks Frenzied Speculation North Korea has dug a new tunnel more than 500 m deep at a nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province, intelligence sources said Tuesday. The North is also reportedly accelerating massive excavation work and construction of a new building at its main nuclear site in Yongbyon. "North Korea seems to be busy digging even in winter when the ground is frozen" at Punggye-ri and Yongbyon, an intelligence officer said. Based on an estimate of the amount of earth dug up, the intelligence officer speculated that the North has already dug...

Japan’s Sankei Shimbun reported Wednesday that North Korea may be making preparations for a possible third nuclear test. The newspaper published satellite imagery from the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear site, which it alleged showed work toward the test in progress. The daily quoted an expert as saying, “Based on what’s been shown in the photos, it is clear that North Korea is preparing for a new experiment. Chances are high that something will happen in the next six months.” The report followed comments by Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Charles Jack Pritchard, a former...

N. Korea Possibly Preparing for 3rd Nuclear Test It is being reported that North Korea is possibly preparing for another nuclear test. According to Japan's Sankei Shimbun on Wednesday IHS Jane's, a British open-source intelligence provider to militaries, said that there is a high possibility that the communist state is preparing for its third nuclear test after analyzing satellite imagery. IHS Jane's has confirmed that Pyeongyang is excavating a tunnel near the area where it conducted its second nuclear test in May of last year and that it has detected active movements of vehicles around the site. The paper also...

Is N.Korea Preparing for Another Nuke Test? A U.S. reconnaissance satellite has detected signs of North Korea preparing for a nuclear test in North Hamgyong Province, where it had conducted two earlier tests in October 2006 and May 2009. A South Korean government source on Wednesday said "brisk movement" of vehicles and people has been detected in Punggye-ri recently, including signs of activity there to repair a tunnel that collapsed after the two earlier nuclear tests. However, it seems unlikely that the North will conduct a third nuclear test in the immediate future since current activities there suggest it will...

August 26, 2010 SNAPSHOT The Pyongyang Playbook The Case for Strategic Patience Sung-Yoon Lee SUNG-YOON LEE is Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. /snip In fact, Pyongyang's methods have been remarkably consistent since the early 1960s, when Kim Il Sung, the nation’s founding dictator and its current leader’s father, purged all potential rivals and consolidated power. Its strategy has been to lash out at its enemies when it perceives them to be weak or distracted, up the ante in the face of international condemnation (while blaming external scapegoats), and...

N. Korea may conduct 3rd nuclear test: defector SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will not abandon its nuclear ambitions despite international sanctions, and may conduct its third nuclear test in the near future, a former senior North Korean official said in an interview aired Saturday. "North Korea believes nuclear arms are its most important defensive tool, and the country will not abandon its nuclear ambitions," Hwang Jang-yop said in an interview with the South Korean national broadcaster KBS.Data picture Hwang was interviewed by KBS on July 23, and KBS aired it on Saturday. Hwang, a former secretary of...

N.Korea Mouthpiece Threatens Another Nuclear Test A North Korean mouthpiece in Japan on Monday issued a thinly veiled threat of another nuclear test by the North, which is peeved by a massive South Korea-U.S. naval exercise in the East Sea. The Choson Sinbo newspaper said the North "regards a nuclear test as an essential procedural requirement to gain a nuclear deterrent. In the past, it has not hesitated to conduct a test if it decided it needed one." The newspaper recalled that the North pledged to "step up nuclear deterrence." "Less than a year in power, the Obama administration led...

U.S. scientists say they have created an automated program designed to "debug" the nation's nuclear test computer simulations. Purdue University researchers, working with scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said their program, called AutomaDeD (pronounced like automated), finds errors in computer code for complex "parallel" programs. Because international treaties forbid the detonation of nuclear test weapons, certification is done using complex simulations. The researchers said such simulations, which may contain as many as 100,000 lines of computer code, must accurately show reactions taking place on the scale of milliseconds, or thousandths of a second. "The simulations take several weeks...

/being my translation N. Korea Could Have their Third Nuclear Test in May or June 2010-04-20 13:33 It is said to be likely that N. Korea could conduct their third nuclear test in May or June. As prospects dim for 6-party talks due to the sinking of Cheonan, this would further raise tension in Korean Peninsula. Kim Seung-jae reporting from Beijing [Report] According to credible diplomatic sources on N. Korea, it has been secretly preparing for their third nuclear test since last February. It is their understanding that it would conduct the third nuclear test next month or in June....

Two U.S.-based scientists said Sunday they've located the site of North Korea's second nuclear test last year more precisely than ever before, pinpointing it just 2 kilometers off the place where the first test was conducted in 2006. Lianxing Wen, a geophysics professor at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, and his graduate student, Hui Long, located the epicenter of the second nuclear test on May 5 last year with a margin of error of only 140 meters, compared with 3.8 kilometers achieved by the U.S. Geological Survey. "We locate the 2009 test at 723 meters north...

North Korea is likely to conduct a nuclear test next year in an attempt to boost itself as an atomic power and shore up the regime's legitimacy at home as Pyongyang prepares for a dynastic power transfer, South Korea's state-run think tank warns. North Korea is also expected to launch more long-range ballistic missiles and provoke military clashes along the heavily fortified border with South Korea, the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said in its 2010 outlook. North Korea conducted its second nuclear test last May following its first in 2006, which led to tougher trade and financial sanctions by...

Kim Jong Il Reportedly Calls for Third Nuclear Test Saturday , September 12, 2009 North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, during his most recent meeting with party and military leaders, reportedly gave instructions that the reclusive regime prepare for a third nuclear test, this time using enriched uranium, according to reports from Free Radio of North Korea, based in South Korea. Kim "emphasized the importance of improvement of nuclear technologies with the aim of attracting the U.S. to direct bilateral talks," according to the radio station's source. The meeting during which this order was reportedly given took place on Aug....

US nuclear gurus see signs of more Indian nuclear tests Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN 28 August 2009, 05:24am IST WASHINGTON: US nuclear pundits feel the Indian establishment -- political, scientific, or both in concert – may be lining up to conduct more nuclear tests to validate and improve the country’s arsenal before the Obama administration shuts the door on nuclear explosions. ''You bet he wants to test again,'' said Henry Sokolski, Executive Director of the Washington DC-based Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, when asked about the remarks from a key Indian nuclear scientist suggesting India’s thermonuclear test was not up to mark....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has determined that the nuclear test conducted by North Korea last month yielded an explosion of a few kilotons, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence said on Monday. "The U.S. intelligence community assesses that North Korea probably conducted an underground nuclear explosion in the vicinity of Punggye on May 25, 2009," the office said in a statement. "The explosion yield was approximately a few kilotons." North Korea's first nuclear test, in 2006, was about one kiloton. Shortly after this year's blast, Russia said it estimated the explosion at about 20 kilotons,...

Spies beef up surveillance of 11 sites for nuke test June 15, 2009 South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials have ratcheted up their monitoring of 11 underground facilities in North Korea after reports of a third possible North Korean nuclear test, sources told the JoongAng Ilbo. An intelligence source said the test would be in response to the recent United Nations Security Council’s resolution that condemns the North’s second nuclear test on May 25 and imposes tough sanctions on Pyongyang. According to the source, South Korea and the United States are using KH-12 spy satellites to monitor vehicle movements. They’re...

SKorea braces for 3rd nuclear test by North Korea By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 12, 3:52 am ET SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea was bracing for a possible third nuclear test by the North, which a U.S. official said was likely despite looming U.N. sanctions on the communist state for its previous test in May. Given the North's track record of provocative behavior and defiance of the United Nations, "common sense" would dictate that it is preparing for another nuclear test, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters Friday. He said the test was...

Was N. Korea`s 2nd Nuke Test Faked? JUNE 04, 2009 08:20 Suspicion is rising over whether North Korea really conducted a nuclear test last week since no krypton-85, a radioactive material produced after an atomic detonation, has been detected. Radioactive materials not found in nature such as krypton-85 and xenon-135 are released after a nuclear test. Krypton-85 remains in the air for several decades and thus presents clear evidence of a nuclear test. In October 2006, a U.S. WC-135 scout plane detected radioactive materials over the East Sea a couple of days after the North conducted its first nuclear test....

A Nuclear Asia From End To End Gordon G. Chang, 05.29.09, 12:01 AM ET On Tuesday, Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's most widely read newspaper, urged Seoul to build its own long-range missiles and atomic bombs. "North Korea claims its rationale for having nuclear weapons is to defend itself," the broadsheet editorialized. "South Korea too now requires a deterrent." To build that deterrent, the South will first have to abrogate two global agreements, the Missile Technology Control Regime and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. For years, these pacts, which prevented the dissemination of dangerous technologies, looked solid. Now,...

(LEAD) (Yonhap Interview) N. Korean nuclear test to trigger unprecedented response: Cohen By Sam Kim SINGAPORE, May 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea made a "big miscalculation" by going ahead with its second nuclear test and should expect an unprecedented response from the international community, a former U.S. defense minister said Friday. North Korea set off an underground nuclear explosion in its northeastern region on Monday despite a slew of international warnings

China's Anger at North Korea Test Signals Shift By JAY SOLOMON in Washington and IAN JOHNSON and GORDON FAIRCLOUGH in Beijing North Korea's nuclear test this week has deeply angered China, a mood shift signaled in statements showing that influential Chinese thinkers are coming to see Kim Jong Il's regime as a liability. The change in attitude doesn't indicate China will support punishment that could threaten the stability of its neighbor. China appears ready to support modest sanctions at the United Nations Security Council, along the lines of the restrictions on North Korean companies it has supported in the past....

(LEAD) Chinese ships shunning waters near Korea amid tensions SEOUL, May 29 (Yonhap) -- Chinese fishing vessels are leaving the Yellow Sea, where tensions between the two Koreas have escalated after Pyongyang's threats of military clash, a defense source here said Friday. "Chinese fishing ships operating near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) began withdrawing yesterday," the source said, adding the military authorities are trying to find out whether North Korea asked them to do so. More than 280 Chinese vessels were fishing near the NLL for crab earlier this week but the number has dropped to about 140, according to...

US should consider military options against N Korea: Perry Thu May 28, 1:28 pm ET WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States should consider a range of coercive measures against North Korea, including possible military action, for diplomacy to have a chance of success, former US defense secretary William Perry said Thursday. Perry emphasized that he was not recommending military action against North Korea now but said the United States should at least consider escalating to military action if other lesser coercive measures prove ineffective. "We could have stopped this last nuclear test if we had chosen to do so. We...

N. Korean nuclear blast probably less powerful than hoped for: Yale scholar By Sam Kim SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea apparently failed to achieve desired explosiveness in its second nuclear test, a Yale University professor says, citing seismic readings that have been generated by it. North Korea set off an underground nuclear explosion on Monday, creating a shock that registered 4.52 in magnitude on the Richter scale, according to a Vienna-based anti-nuclear weapons organization. North Korea produced a magnitude of 4.1 in its first test in October 2006, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty says. Jefferey Park, director of the...

(2nd LD) S. Korea joins PSI after N. Korea's nuke test By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Tuesday declared full participation in the U.S.-led campaign aimed at curbing the spread of the weapons of mass destruction and related materials, a day after North Korea conducted its second nuclear test. South Korea made the decision to join the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) following the North's April 5 rocket launch, but it had delayed a formal announcement in consideration of its efforts to resume dialogue with the communist neighbor. Government officials said there was no reason to...

President Barack Obama hit the golf course after marking his first Memorial Day as commander in chief. The president's motorcade took him to Fort Belvoir in Virginia. That's where he went for a game of golf more than a week ago. Obama grabbed his clubs after he participated in Memorial Day observances at Arlington National Cemetery

(News Focus) N. Korea moving fast in timetable of provocative steps By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's second nuclear test came as no surprise to South Korean officials on Monday, but they said the unpredictable communist nation pulled out its trump card earlier than expected. "North Korea seems to want a speedy game," a senior South Korean government official handling the nuclear issue said. "It seems to be seeking to create a condition favorable to itself as early as possible, rather than dragging its feet." The North, infuriated by the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its...

Russia confirms North Korea's nuclear test - Summary Posted on : 2009-05-25 | Author : DPA News Category : Europe Moscow - Russia's Defence Ministry on Monday confirmed that North Korea had conducted a subterranean nuclear test. The nuclear explosion had a strength of between 10 and 20 kilotons, Defence Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said, according to the Interfax news agency. The detonation was registered in an area some 80 kilometres north- west of the city of Kilchu. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was in Lebanon on Monday expressed concern over the developments.

N. Korea couples nuclear blast with missile launch: source By Sam Kim SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to have test-fired a short-range missile Monday on its east coast after it conducted its second nuclear test, a South Korean source said. The missile, with an estimated range of 130 kilometers, was fired from the coastal site where North Korea launched its long-range rocket on April 5, the source said. The latest launch comes as tension peaks on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea claimed it succeeded in detonating a more powerful nuclear device in its northeastern region. "The...

N. Korea's 2nd nuke test occurred few kilometers from previous test site: weather agency SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's second nuclear test on Monday appeared to have taken place 10-15 km away from the site of the first test in the country's northeast, Seoul's weather agency said. Pyongyang's state media confirmed the country has "successfully" conducted the underground nuclear test but did not say where it took place. The Seoul-based Korea Meteorological Administration said it detected seismic waves from the nuclear test 10 to 15 km away from the 2006 test site around the town of Kilju, North...

<p>This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.</p>

Second nuke test by N. Korea would lead to 'consequences': Bosworth By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, May 8 (Yonhap) -- The senior U.S. nuclear envoy on Friday dismissed North Korea's recent claim that the Obama administration is hostile towards Pyongyang, saying Washington is continuing efforts for bilateral and multilateral dialogue with the communist nation, On a trip here highlighted by the North's renewed threats to bolster its nuclear arsenal, Stephen Bosworth made clear that if North Korea puts its threats into action, it will face "consequences." "If the North Koreans decide to carry out a second nuclear test, we will deal...

Activity at N.Korean Test Sites Intensifies North Korea has been speeding up construction of a new long-range missile test site in Tongchangri, North Pyongan Province. And vehicles and personnel are busily moving around in Kilju, North Hamgyong Province, where the North conducted an underground nuclear test in 2006, showing signs of preparations for another. "The North has recently been speeding up construction at the test site in Tongchangri by deploying more equipment and personnel," a South Korean government official said Wednesday. "We expected the North would complete construction sometime late this year, but it now seems that it could be...

SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea on Wednesday threatened to conduct a second nuclear test unless the United Nations apologises for condemning its rocket launch, sharply raising the stakes in the dispute over its weapons programmes. Unless the Security Council apologises immediately, the North vowed to take what it called additional defensive measures. "The measures will include nuclear tests and test-firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles," its foreign ministry said in a statement on official media. The announcement further raised regional tensions following the North's April 5 launch of a long-range rocket. Pyongyang said it put a peaceful satellite into orbit while...

/begin my excerpts Choson Sinbo: Hints at N. Korean Nuclear Test Points out the 2006 nuclear test was done three months after the Security Council Resolution (Seoul= Yonhap News) Kim Doo-hwan = Choson Sinbo, the newspaper for pro-North Korean group in Japan, which is an unofficial mouthpiece of N. Korea to the outside world hinted on Apr. 24 that N. Korea could carry out nuclear test in response to the (recent) Security Council Resolution condemning N. Korea's rocket launch. The paper also reminded Barak Obama administration of U.S., "If it does not want to repeat the mistake of pushing us...

Coming Soon: Deal With North Korea ... or 2nd Nuclear Test? Officials See Signs of Upcoming Nuclear Test, Other Odd Moves -- but Also of Nuke Deal By JONATHAN KARL and KIRIT RADIA Oct. 9, 2008 — Amid indications the United States is on the verge of a major agreement with North Korea that would take the Asian nation off a list of state sponsors of terror, U.S. intelligence has picked up signs that North Korea may be preparing for another nuclear test, sources say. Satellite imagery over the past two weeks has picked up suspicious activity at a suspected...

/begin my translation N. Korea: Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site Being Restored Smoke detected at various locations around the nuclear test site There are indications that N. Korea is restoring the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, Kilju, where they conducted the test two years ago, prompting intelligence authorities to pay close watch on the development. A government source said on Oct. 1, "We recently detected smoke coming out of various locations around Punggye-ri nuclear test site. We are closely monitoring to determine if N. Korea is trying to restore the test site." He said, "Specifically, we suspect that the smoke we...

Pro-N. Korea paper: Nuclear tension could spike By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, August 27, 2008 (08-27) 05:21 PDT SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea's threat to restore its nuclear facilities should not be seen as "empty talk" and the standoff could develop into a crisis similar to the country's first atomic test, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper said Wednesday.

â—† N. Korea says used 2 kg of plutonium in 2006 nuke test: source SEOUL, June 28 KYODO North Korea's declaration of its nuclear programs that it submitted this week states that it extracted a total of around 30 kilograms of plutonium and used 2 kg in the nuclear test it conducted in October 2006, a six-party talks source said Saturday. A nuclear weapon normally requires between 4 and 8 kg of plutonium. There is speculation that North Korea may have declared a smaller quantity to counter rumors that the 2006 nuclear test, which resulted in a relatively small explosion,...

N. Korea marks nuclear test anniversary By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago North Korea marked the first anniversary of its nuclear test on Tuesday, with leader Kim Jong Il getting praise for pulling off a "truly great miracle" that sent the reclusive communist country "soaring as a powerful and great" nation. The Oct. 9, 2006, test marked a peak in international concern over the country's nuclear status and prompted the U.S. to soften its policy toward North Korea, paving the way for steps toward a goal of dismantling the Asian country's program. The North's main Rodong Sinmun...

North Korea Prepping Nuclear Weapons Test Defense Officials Tell ABC News 'They've Put Everything in Place' By JONATHAN KARL WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2007 — - North Korea appears to have made preparations for another nuclear test, according to U.S. defense officials. "We think they've put everything in place to conduct a test without any notice or warning," a senior U.S. defense official told ABC News. The official cautions that the intelligence is inconclusive as to whether North Korea will actually go ahead with another test but said the preparations are similar to the steps taken by Pyongyang before it shocked...

/begin my translation N. Korea: Another Nuclear Test Likely in Late Dec. or Early Next Year (SK opposition lawmaker) Kim Jong-il's internal directive, "Act Confidently at 6-party talks as a nuclear power." [2006-11-29 11:34 ] There are reportedly indications that N. Korea would go for another nuclear test in late December or early next year. Chung Hyung-geun, an opposition lawmaker at Intelligence Committee of National Assembly, maintained on Nov. 29, "Various indications have been picked up which show that, if U.S. does not agree to lift economic sanctions, including unfreezing of (N. Korean) accounts at Banco Delta Asia, N. Korea...

North Korea is expected to conduct a second nuclear weapons test, said General B. B. Bell, head of US forces in South Korea. 'I think we can expect further tests as part of its program to develop very provocative weapons,' Bell told a press conference.

N. Korea beefs up counterintelligence following nuclear test SHENYANG, China, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has toughened surveillance of locals suspected of gathering information about its atomic and military activities in the wake of its Oct. 9 atomic bomb test, an informed source said Sunday. The Ministry of People's Security, Pyongyang's top police agency, issued a directive to its security agencies on Oct. 15 that they should closely monitor and report suspicious activities, the source said. Those subject to stronger surveillance include former North Korean defectors, former convicts, smugglers, merchants and those who have relatives in China, the source...

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U.S. to Take Separate Sanctions Against N.Korea U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the U.S. will take its own sanctions against North Korea independent of the UN Security Council resolution condemning the North’s nuclear test. Speaking at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, Rice stressed that the implementation of the U.N. resolution is a responsibility of all U.N. member countries. But she added, “As for our part, the United States is now obligated to adopt additional sanctions on North Korea under national legislation.” This includes the Glenn Amendment to the Arms Export Control Act initiated by Senator John Glenn...

Motel Bookings, Condom Sales Surge Post Nuke Test As tends to be the case in disasters and crises, sales of condoms and reservations at motels surged in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear test on Oct. 9. One online hotel reservations site reports that everything is completely booked up through the end of the month in what it calls an “exceptional” flood of guests. If there is apathy about security among Koreans, there is also a silent terror seeking release in sex. On Oct. 9-15, the average daily sales of condoms across all Family Mart convenience stores was 1,930, a...