Another Nuke Test in North Korea?
North Korea is preparing for a third atomic test that may come in May or June, South Korean broadcaster YTN reported on Tuesday, an act that could further isolate Pyongyang and complicate already troubled nuclear diplomacy.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan dismissed the report, saying Seoul had seen no evidence, and the U.S. State Department also voiced doubts about its accuracy.
“If North Korea was making such preparations, there would be related circumstances that can be detected … there is no intelligence on such circumstances,” Yu told a news briefing.
“We are skeptical of that report,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington. [Reuters, Jack Kim and Jon Herskovitz]
Translation: we prefer not to believe this.
I don’t know how strong the evidence is, but it certainly would fit with North Korea’s recent behavior. But every bomb they test is one less they can use. Or sell.
It is a show of strength, an attempt to mask the underlying weakness of the regime. Its eroded power to control the economy which it will never regain, and the coming political succession crisis. It fits the MO of the Cheonan, and the bellicosity that preceded it, as well as the Geumgang incident, and the repeated push-back in Gaeseong.
Or it might just be nonsense, like the picture of “Kim Jong Eun.”
North Korea’s preparing for a third nuclear test? I say let ’em! Then taunt them that we thought that was just a bunch of TNT detonated in a mine shaft, so they’ll detonate another one to prove us wrong.
Lather, rinse, repeat, and eventually all their nukes will be gone. I should be president.