North Korea claims it has conducted a nuclear test
News Digest|Source:Wikinews
According to South Korea-based Yonhap News service, and the Associated Press, North Korea has announced that it has successfully conducted its first nuclear test.
North Korea first announced it possessed nuclear weapons in 2005, though because it had not conducted a nuclear test its nuclear capability remained ambiguous. The United States, Japan, China, and South Korea have all urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. North Korea released a statement on October 3 saying that it would soon conduct a nuclear test, and also emphasized that it would neither use nuclear weapons first nor aid other countries in nuclear proliferation. The state claimed that it would only use the weapons as a deterrent against the United States Isreal, the United Kingdom and their allies. In 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said that they "would not tolerate" a nuclear North Korea. China and Japan have also expressed concern.
Rumors of an impending nuclear test have circulated since North Korea announced its weapons capability.
According to North Korea's Central News Agency, the country conducted an underground nuclear test successfully without any radioactive leakage. Underground tests, if they fully contain the nuclear blast, can result in a minimum of nuclear fallout contamination. If confirmed, the nuclear test by North Korea would be the first nuclear test since the dual Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests of 1998.
The U.S. Geological Service has recorded a magnitude 4.2 event in eastern North Korea at 01:35:27 (UTC).
In the first significant reaction to the announcement the South Korean government has decided to suspend a scheduled shipment of its emergency relief aid to its northern neighbor. An official from the Unification Ministry said "A ship was scheduled to depart … carrying 4,000 tons of concrete on Tuesday, but we decided to delay the shipment under the current circumstances."
