North Korea said Monday it had exploded a nuclear weapon for the first time, an underground test that defied international warnings but was hailed by the communist nation as a "great leap forward" for its people. The reported test drew harsh condemnation from world powers and some warned it would destabilize the region. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair called the test a "completely irresponsible act" and Japan said it was unpardonable.
The U.N. Security Council was expected to discuss North Korea on Monday, and the United States and Japan were likely to press for a resolution imposing additional sanctions on the impoverished country.
The U.S. Geological Survey said it recorded a seismic event in northeastern North Korea that coincided with the announced test and a South Korean expert said it was equivalent to the force of 550 tons of TNT or a relatively small bomb.
Although North Korea has long claimed it had the capability to produce a bomb, the reported test, if confirmed, would be the first proof of its membership in a small club of nuclear-armed nations. It would dramatically alter the strategic balance of power in the Pacific region and seriously undermine global anti-proliferation efforts. The test Monday morning came a day after the ninth anniversary of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's appointment as head of the Korean Workers' Party.
Tuesday will be the 61st anniversary of the party's founding. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the underground test was performed successfully and there was no dangerous radioactive leakage as a result. This is "a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation," the statement said.
"It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the ...
people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability," it said. "It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it." Condemnation of North Korea from world powers came swiftly after the test was announced.
Blair said the test was a "completely irresponsible act," and its Foreign Ministry warned of international repercussions. "A North Korean nuclear test would constitute a provocative act in defiance of the will of the international community and of our call to refrain from actions that would aggravate tensions in Northeast Asia," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. "We expect the U.
N. Security Council to take immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act," he added. "The United States is closely monitoring the situation and reaffirms its commitment to protect and defend our allies in the region.
" China, the North's closest ally, said Beijing "resolutely opposes" the test and hopes Pyongyang will return to the six-party nuclear disarmament talks. Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said a nuclear test by North Korea was unpardonable, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. Abe was in Seoul for a summit.
Japan's top government spokesman said if confirmed, the test would pose a serious threat to the stability in the region and a provocation. South Korean presidential spokesman Yoon Tae-young said: "Our government will sternly react under the principle that it cannot tolerate the North's possession of nuclear weapons." South Korea suspended an aid shipment scheduled Tuesday to the North.
South and North Korea, which fought the 1950-53 Korean War, are divided by the world's most heavily armed border. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was holding an emergency meeting Monday of top security officials, and Seoul was consulting with allies on intelligence about the reported test, the presidential spokesman said. Roh was also to speak later with President Bush, his office said.
South Korea's Defense Ministry said the alert level of the military had been raised in response to the claimed nuclear test, but that it noticed no unusual activity among North Korea's troops. If a nuclear test is confirmed, North Korea would be the eighth country in the world known to have atomic weapons along with the United States, Russia, France, China, Britain, India, and Pakistan. Israel also is believed to have nuclear bombs but does not confirm it.
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