news.notes20090525a

[Biography of the Day] from [Britannica]

Monday, May 25, 2009
Sir Ian McKellen
Sir Ian McKellen, a British actor of great versatility who earned acclaim for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and for such films as The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003), was born this day in 1939.

[On This Day] from [Britannica]

Monday, May 25, 2009
1787: U.S. Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia
On this day in 1787, the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia, where 55 state delegates, initially charged with amending the Articles of Confederation, later drafted the Constitution of the United States.


[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]

[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 25, 2009
Proposed foreigner card protested
Opponents of change to immigration law fear loss of privacy, other human rights violations

By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer

More than 200 people rallied in Tokyo's Shinbashi district Sunday to protest government-sponsored immigration bills they claim would violate the privacy of foreign residents and strengthen government control over them.

The protesters say the proposed system would allow the government to punish non-Japanese who fail to properly report their personal information, and could even make it possible for immigration authorities to arbitrarily revoke their visas.

The bills now before the Diet "would jeopardize the residency right and right of life (for foreign residents). Therefore, we strongly oppose the bills," said Nobuyuki Sato of Research-Action Institute for the Koreans in Japan, one of the organizers of the protest rally and a meeting on the proposed legal changes.

Under the bills as they are currently written, a new "zairyu" (residence) card would replace the current alien registration card. Under the current system, illegal immigrants can register their status with local governments and receive some public services. But they would not be able to get a zairyu card and would not be registered in the resident registration in their municipalities. This leaves some human right activists concerned that children of illegal immigrants might not be able to receive certain public services, including education.

Foreigners would be obliged to carry the new card at all times, just as with the current card. Failure to do so could result in a maximum fine of 200,000, the same as the current regulation.

Non-Japanese would also be required to report to the government in 14 days if they change employer or address. Otherwise they could lose their visas if they don't report in 90 days.

The bills, which were submitted in March, propose consolidating management of foreign residents' data under the Justice Ministry, rather than local governments as it is now.

Sato criticized the government for not bothering to solicit the opinions of foreign residents even though they are the people who would be directly affected.

During the meeting, various people, including foreign residents and representatives of labor unions, discussed the bills.

Opponents of the proposed revisions, including a number of human rights groups, say the proposed monitoring system is far too strict and could pose a violation of human rights.

Meanwhile, the LDP-New Komeito ruling coalition and the Democratic Party of Japan have reportedly agreed that Korean residents who came to Japan before or during World War II and their descendants would not be obliged to carry the new card all the time.


[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 25, 2009
Beef safety rating to be raised
Japan's measures against mad cow disease bear fruit

(Kyodo News) The World Organization for Animal Health is expected to upgrade its evaluation of Japan's safeguard measures against mad cow disease, government sources said Sunday.

The government will try to boost Japanese beef exports after the Paris-based international organization, known by its French acronym OIE, upgrades Japan's status, the sources said.

Tokyo is also expected to begin considering easing age regulations for testing meat for mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, they said.

The OIE is expected to grant the authorization to Japan during a general session that opened Sunday, the sources said.

If the government begins to consider relaxing the current testing rules, the U.S. will likely apply more pressure to lift Japan's beef import restrictions so it can sell more beef here.

Japan currently requires beef from cattle aged 21 months and older to be tested for mad cow disease.

The government will have to be careful about deciding when to revamp the testing rules because the public remains wary about U.S. beef, given that some cow parts banned by Japanese import regulations were found in beef shipments from the U.S. after the current restrictions were put in place, industry watchers said.

Under OIE regulations, there are three risk categories — negligible mad cow risk, controlled risk and undetermined risk. Ten countries are classified as posing a negligible risk.

Controlled risk recognition is granted to countries where adequate measures, including the removal of risk materials such as brains and spinal cords, are taken even though mad cow is not completely eradicated.

The U.S. and 30 other countries are in the controlled risk category. Japan applied for the status in December, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said.

Thirty-six infected cows have been found in Japan since the first case of mad cow disease here in 2001.

There were three cases in 2007, one last year and one so far this year.

Since the first case, the government has instituted various measures, such as banning the use of bone-meal cattle feed made with brains and spinal cords.

About 20 countries and territories banned imports of Japanese beef, and only five of them, including Singapore, have so far resumed beef purchases from Japan.


[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 25, 2009
Four new flu cases; schools to reopen

(Kyodo News) The tally of swine flu infections in Japan rose to 342 on Sunday, as four more people, including a 19-year-old man in Toyono, Osaka Prefecture, and an 18-year-old male high school student in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, were confirmed as having the new H1N1 virus.

Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, where more than 310 of the confirmed patients live, plan to allow elementary, junior high and high schools to resume classes Monday after they were shut down for about a week.

The prefectural governments said the worst is apparently over, with recent figures showing that the number of new infections has slowed down.

They made the decision after the central government relaxed its flu policy Friday, allowing local governments to decide on school closures based on the situation in each area.

There have been no deaths in Japan related to the new H1N1 virus.

In other developments, Russia on Saturday added Japan to its list of countries that the government is asking its citizens to avoid, according to the Interfax news agency.

Russia has also urged its citizens not to travel to the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Spain. On May 19 it urged Russians not go to Osaka and Hyogo.

As of early Sunday, the number of patients worldwide stood at 12,462.

news.notes20090525b

[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]

[BUSINESS NEWS]
Monday, May 25, 2009
JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Traditional merchant values resurgent in recessionary Japan

By HAMA NORIKO

There is an old Japanese saying that keeps cropping up in my conversations with people lately. It is the phrase "sampoh-yoshi."

In this instance, sampoh would be translated as "in three directions." Yoshi can be interpreted as "good," "happy" or "content." Any one of those would apply.

Thus, sampoh-yoshi is a state in which happiness extends in three directions. A kind of "trinity of bliss," in fact.

The persona who constitute the happy trinity are sellers, buyers and the general public. That all three should always be satisfied was the motto the merchant classes of the Ohmi district set out for themselves in times of old.

Ohmi is the modern-day equivalent of Shiga Prefecture, which is next-door neighbors with Kyoto and is the proud home of Lake Biwa, the largest lake by surface area in Japan. The merchants of Ohmi were active purveyors of all kinds of goods as early as the 12th century, and were very much at the forefront of trade and commerce right up to the early 20th century.

Those who go by the principle of the blissful trinity abhor the winner-takes-all mentality. They frown at the "survival of the fittest" thinking that governs market fundamentalists. The seller should not allow himself to be content if he has not made the buyer happy and hasn't given something back to society through his trading activities. Consideration for the welfare of customers and the community should always accompany the quest for gain.

Not for the Ohmi merchant the pursuit of profit at the expense of his immediate clients or the community in which he operates. The economics of greed has no place in the Ohmi spirit.

This whole idea was the subject of keen discussion in class last week at Doshisha University Graduate School of Business, where I teach. It also became a topic of debate at a lecture for visiting European businesspeople the very next day.

Now that I think of it, it was also brought up by a student a couple of weeks ago during group tutorials held to prepare students for their MBA thesis. Yet another student is exploring ideas along the lines of a "club for local small businesses" at which small and medium-size enterprises at both the selling and buying end of transactions would come together to generally watch out for each other and for the good of the local community.

After the deluge brought on by the credit crunch, people are apparently looking for something to replace the feverish quests for immediate gain that had so dominated their behavior at the height of the global asset bubble. For those badly hit by casino economics, it comes as no surprise that the trinity of bliss would have such powerfully healing appeal.

Very intriguingly, there is yet another concept that promotes the same kind of idea in reverse. This one might be named the "trinity of loss." The Japanese phrase for this is "sampoh-ichi-ryo-son." Here's that word sampoh again. "Ichi" is the numeral one, of course. "Ryo" is the currency unit that was commonly used in the Edo Period. "Son" means loss. What the phrase tells us is that as long as everybody involved suffers losses in exactly the same measure, nobody will complain or make a fuss and peace will reign throughout all concerned.

To what extent this renewed quest for cozy chumminess and communal values does to resolve our current economic problems remains to be seen. It is an interesting development nonetheless. We could do with a bit of communal spirit after all that preoccupation with performance standards and achievement goals.


[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 25, 2009
Japan denounces N. Korea's nuke test

(Kyodo News) Japan denounced North Korea for conducting a second nuclear test Monday and is believed to be making preparations to seek an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to deal with the situation.

The test, which Pyongyang around midday announced had been conducted, "is a clear violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution and is absolutely impermissible," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters.

Tokyo will "make adamant responses including (asking) the Security Council" to convene an emergency meeting, said Kawamura, the top government spokesman.

Japan is expected to propose in the early hours of Monday in New York, or Monday afternoon Japan time, that Russia, the chair of the Security Council, convene an emergency meeting, said a U.N. diplomatic source in New York.

Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency announced around midday that the North successfully carried out its second underground nuclear test.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said it detected seismic waves from North Korea around 9:54 a.m., with the focus located almost identical to the origin of percussions from the North's first underground nuclear test conducted in October 2006, where seismic activity is rare.

After Pyongyang conducted its first nuclear test, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution against North Korea, expressing "the gravest concern" and calling for all U.N. members to take wide-ranging economic and diplomatic sanctions.

The Japanese government set up a special task force Monday to deal with the second nuclear test at the emergency management center of Prime Minister Taro Aso's office.

Japanese officials began contacting their U.S. and South Korean counterparts with an eye on drafting and submitting a new U.N. resolution calling for additional sanctions, while considering reinforcing Japan's own sanctions, officials said.

The Defense Ministry, meanwhile, showed readiness to send up Air Self-Defense Force aircraft, upon request from within the government, to test the atmosphere for any change in radioactivity levels.

The ASDF's T-4 training aircraft were dispatched for the same purpose the last time the North tested a nuclear device, Defense Ministry officials said.


[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, May 25, 2009
Four new flu cases; schools to reopen

(Kyodo News) The tally of swine flu infections in Japan rose to 342 on Sunday, as four more people, including a 19-year-old man in Toyono, Osaka Prefecture, and an 18-year-old male high school student in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, were confirmed as having the new H1N1 virus.

Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, where more than 310 of the confirmed patients live, plan to allow elementary, junior high and high schools to resume classes Monday after they were shut down for about a week.

The prefectural governments said the worst is apparently over, with recent figures showing that the number of new infections has slowed down.

They made the decision after the central government relaxed its flu policy Friday, allowing local governments to decide on school closures based on the situation in each area.

There have been no deaths in Japan related to the new H1N1 virus.

In other developments, Russia on Saturday added Japan to its list of countries that the government is asking its citizens to avoid, according to the Interfax news agency.

Russia has also urged its citizens not to travel to the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Spain. On May 19 it urged Russians not go to Osaka and Hyogo.

As of early Sunday, the number of patients worldwide stood at 12,462.

news.notes20090525c

[Top News on Today's Paper] from [Los Angeles Times]

North Korea says it conducted an underground nuclear test

t is also said to have test-fired a short-range missile. The regime is apparently irate about U.S. inattention.

By John M. Glionna
12:27 AM PDT, May 25, 2009

Reporting from Seoul -- North Korea announced today that it has successfully completed an underground nuclear test, as the secretive regime continues efforts to bolster its nuclear capabilities after a rocket test launch in April.

Hours later, the South Korean government confirmed a news agency report that North Korea also had test-fired a short-range missile.

The developments follow months of tension during which North Korea has repeatedly rejected international pleas to abandon its burgeoning nuclear program.

Analysts say Pyongyang was irate over criticism by the U.S., Japan and South Korea of its April rocket launch and has grown impatient at the lack of attention it has received from the Obama administration -- both possible motives for today's action. North Korea had threatened to test another missile, or another nuclear device, unless the United Nations apologized for condemning that launch, which Pyongyang said was a peaceful satellite.

The international community expressed shock at the new developments, which came as another blow to international efforts to dismantle the communist nation's nuclear program. North Korea is thought to have enough weaponized plutonium to make more than half a dozen bombs, analysts say.

President Obama called the development "a matter of grave concern."

"By acting in blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council, North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," he said. ". . . Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea's isolation. It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery."

Russia's U.N. ambassador told Reuters news service that the Security Council would hold an emergency meeting today.

"We are concerned by the reports about North Korea's explosion of a nuclear device," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said later in Beirut, according to Interfax news agency.

Five nations -- Russia, China, South Korea, Japan and the U.S. -- have been negotiating with North Korea on ending its nuclear weaponry program for years, but the rogue nation recently walked away from the so-called six-party talks.

Japanese officials also said they would seek redress at the U.N., Reuters reported. Japan will respond to North Korea's nuclear test "in a responsible fashion," said a Foreign Ministry spokesman attending a regional meeting in Vietnam.

"We are now aware of the news that the [North Korea] conducted a nuclear test for the second time, so we are certainly going to respond in a very responsible manner," the spokesman, Kazuo Kodama, said. "Definitely we are going to respond, we have to, at the U.N. Security Council."

The nuclear test came about 10 a.m. today, when seismologists from the U.S., South Korea and Japan reported earthquakes in a northeastern area, just a few miles from where North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006, according to wire reports.

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a magnitude 4.7 tremor in the northeast, about 40 miles northwest of the city of Kimchaek.

In Seoul, stock markets tumbled at news of the nuclear test. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called for an emergency session of the country's security ministers in the underground bunker of the Blue House, the South Korean presidential mansion.

According to the North Korean news agency's release, "The test will contribute to defending the sovereignty of the country and the nation and socialism and ensuring peace and security on the Korean peninsula and the region around it."

The release added that the test was successful and was more powerful than its previous test.

"The current nuclear test was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology," the news agency reported. "The results of the test helped satisfactorily settle the scientific and technological problems arising in further increasing the power of nuclear weapons and steadily developing nuclear technology."

Tass reported that the Russians said it was a 20 kiloton bomb.

Daniel Pinkston, North East Asia deputy project director for the International Crisis Group, a global security think tank, said that the previous North Korean nuclear test registered about 1 kiloton, a measure of the amount of the explosives involved.

Most tests by other nations have been in the 20 to 40 kiloton range, Pinkston said.

"We're waiting to see what the yield [or strength] of the latest test was," he said. "Apparently, the North Koreans had suggested to the Chinese that its test would be in the 4-kiloton range."

The 2006 nuclear test was considered a failure by many analysts and North Korea may be trying to work out any design flaws in its current test, he added.

In April, North Korea announced that it had begun harvesting plutonium from spent fuel rods at its main nuclear plant.

Some South Korean analysts said they were not surprised by today's test.

"This test was pretty predictable. North Korea has been ready for this event and told the whole world about it," said Koh Yu-hwan, a Dongguk University professor of North Korea studies in Seoul.

He said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been frustrated by a lack of progress with his desired one-on-one talks with the Obama administration.

"For the moment, it seems that North Korea internally agreed to strengthen its nuclear deterrence," he said.

Analysts say the nuclear test also is the latest move in Kim's strategy to boost his position at home. Kim, who many believe suffered a debilitating stroke last year, is said to be trying to secure support for one of his three sons.

A successful nuclear program would defy the global community and win support for his chosen successor from the nation's hard-line military forces, said to number more than 1 million.

The North Korean test came as South Korea mourned the suicide of former President Roh Moo-hyun, who had been under investigation on suspicion of accepting bribes during his term in office, which ended last year.

Experts doubted whether the timing of the nuclear test was moved up to take advantage of a distracted South Korea.

"This isn't just something you can prepare for overnight -- there's a long lead-up time," said Pinkston.

"Everything else had to be in place."

news.notes20090525d

[World on Today's Paper] from [The New York Times]

North Korea Claims to Conduct 2nd Nuclear Test

By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: May 25, 2009

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea announced on Monday that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, defying international warnings and dramatically raising the stakes in a global effort to persuade the recalcitrant Communist state to give up its weapons program.

The North’s official news agency, KCNA, said, “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way as requested by its scientists and technicians.”

The test was safely conducted “on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control,” the agency said. “The results of the test helped satisfactorily settle the scientific and technological problems arising in further increasing the power of nuclear weapons and steadily developing nuclear technology.”

The test appeared to have caught South Korea and the United States off guard, and the news hit just as South Korea’s government and people were mourning the suicide of former President Roh Moo-hyun. And hours after the test was reported, South Korean media reported that the North had test-fired a ground-to-air missile with an estimated range of 80 miles.

President Obama reacted swiftly, warning the North to retreat from its defiance of the international community.

“Today, North Korea said that it has conducted a nuclear test in violation of international law,” Mr. Obama said in a statement early Monday. “It appears to also have attempted a short-range missile launch. These actions, while not a surprise given its statements and actions to date, are a matter of grave concern to all nations. North Korea’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security.

“By acting in blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council, North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community. North Korea’s behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia. Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea’s isolation. It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery,” the statement said.

There was no immediate reaction from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, but China’s official news agency, Xinhua, cited concern by officials in Japan, Russia and the European Union.

Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly I. Churkin, told the state news agency RIA-Novosti that the U.N. Security Council would hold an emergency meeting Monday.

The test comes amid uncertainty about North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, and increased speculation about who might succeed him. Mr. Kim suffered a stroke last August, which prompted him to step up preparations to transfer power to one of his three known sons. Analysts believe the favorite son is his youngest, Kim Jong-un, who is in his mid-20s.

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, 2006, which was considered something of a failure by South Korean and American officials. North Korea had given some advance notice before that test, which, like Monday’s test, also was conducted in the country’s northeast.

Pyongyang had recently threatened to conduct a second nuclear test, citing what it called Washington’s “hostilities.”

If the North’s latest test was more successful, it could mean that North Korea has bolstered its atomic weapons capabilities — and its leverage over the United States, which has sought to denuclearize the North.

There was no immediate reaction to the test from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, but China’s official news agency, Xinhua, cited concern by officials in Japan, Russia and the European Union. Hints that the North had conducted a new test first emerged Monday morning when South Korean authorities detected an artificially triggered tremor emanating from the area of Kilju, in northeastern North Korea, said Lee Dong-kwan, spokesman of the office of President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea.

The spokesman said “intelligence officials of South Korea and the United States are analyzing the data and closely monitoring the situation.”

Earlier Monday, North Korea announced that Kim Jong-il had sent a message expressing “profound condolences” to the widow of Mr. Roh, who had pursued a more conciliatory policy toward the North. It remained unclear whether Mr. Kim would send a delegation to Mr. Roh’s funeral on Friday.

Relations between the Koreas have deteriorated since Mr. Roh’s successor, Mr. Lee, took office in February 2008, promising to reverse the “sunshine policy” of promoting political reconciliation with Pyongyang with economic aid.

Agreements resulting from a 2007 summit meeting called for the South to spend billions of dollars to help rebuild the impoverished North’s dilapidated infrastructure. Mr. Lee believed that such aid must be linked to improvements in the North’s human rights record and the dismantling of its nuclear facilities.

North Korea has viciously attacked Mr. Lee, calling him a “national traitor,” cutting off official dialogue and reducing traffic across the countries’ heavily armed border.

The new test comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between North Korea and the United States, which keeps a heavy military presence in South Korea.

Two American journalists are scheduled to be tried June 4 in North Korea, charged with illegal entry into the North and “hostile acts,” and that case in particular has aggravated tensions between Pyongyang and Washington. The relationship was already strained by the North’s test-firing of a long-range rocket on April 5.

After that launch, Washington pressed the United Nations Security Council to tighten sanctions on the North. In retaliation, Pyongyang expelled United Nations nuclear monitors, while threatening to restart a plant that makes weapons-grade plutonium and to conduct a nuclear test.

This month, one day after an American diplomat offered new talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, the North said it had become useless to talk further with the United States.

“The study of the policy pursued by the Obama administration for the past 100 days since its emergence made it clear that the U.S. hostile policy toward the D.P.R.K. remains unchanged,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry said, using the initials for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In comments carried by KCNA, the ministry said: “There is nothing to be gained by sitting down together with a party that continues to view us with hostility.”

The rebuff came as Stephen W. Bosworth, the American special envoy on North Korea, began a trip to Asia with a fresh offer of dialogue. The North’s vow to “bolster its nuclear deterrent” came just hours before Mr. Bosworth was due to arrive in Seoul.

The North’s first nuclear test in 2006 was widely condemned, but it created a new urgency in the six-party talks that had failed to prevent the blast. The parties to the talks are the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

In February 2007, Washington agreed to ease sanctions against banks dealing with Pyongyang, and North Korea concurrently agreed to a process that would lead to the dismantling of its nuclear weapons program. North Korea would receive deliveries of fuel oil in exchange for certain verifications that it was ending its program.

But last December the process collapsed when North Korea rejected the verification measures being sought by the Bush administration.

news.notes20090525e

[News Alert on Today's Paper] fom [The Washington Post]

N. Korea Conducts 'Successful' Underground Nuclear Test

By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, May 25, 2009

TOKYO, May 25 -- North Korea exploded a nuclear device Monday morning, which is its second underground test in three years and is part of a pattern of escalating belligerence this year that has included a missile launch and withdrawal from all nuclear negotiations.

The communist state's official Korean Central News Agency described the test as "successful." It occurred at 9:45 a.m. in a northeast part of the country near where the first test was conducted in October 2006, according to reports from the South Korean government.

"The republic has conducted another underground nuclear testing successfully in order to strengthen our defensive nuclear deterrence," the North Korean news agency said.

The explosion produced a 4.7-magnitude tremor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The previous nuclear test registered 3.58 on the Richter scale.

"We are aware of the reports of a nuclear test by North Korea," a State Department official said late Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the test was not yet confirmed. "We are consulting with our allies. Once we have established the facts, we will have more to say."

The test challenges the Obama administration, which came into office saying it was eager to make progress on the nuclear impasse with North Korea.

The president appointed a special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, who has signaled he is willing to begin bilateral talks with Pyongyang, as well as continue negotiations in a six-nation disarmament forum. North Korea has rejected talks, accusing Washington of continuing the Bush administration's "hostile policy."

Pyongyang may be calculating that it will gain diplomatically from a test. The 2006 explosion pushed the Bush administration to negotiate directly with North Korea, including removing it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons.

North Korea began threatening late last month to explode another nuclear device after the U.N. Security Council condemned its April 5 launch of a long-range missile.

The country is believed to have enough plutonium to make six to eight bombs. Last month it said it would reopen its plutonium factory at Yongbyon to produce more.


NKorea says it conducted 2nd nuclear test

By JEAN H. LEE
The Associated Press
Monday, May 25, 2009; 2:23 AM

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea defiantly declared Monday that it carried out a powerful underground nuclear test _ a major provocation less than two months after launching a rocket widely believed to be a test of its long-range missile technology.

The regime also test-fired a short-range, ground-to-air missile Monday from that same northeastern launchpad, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed sources. South Korea's military said it was looking into the report.

North Korea, incensed by U.N. Security Council condemnation of its April 5 rocket launch, had warned last month that it would restart it rogue nuclear program, conduct an atomic test and carry out long-range missile tests.

On Monday, the country's official Korean Central News Agency said the regime "successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense."

The regime boasted that the test was conducted "on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control" than one carried out in 2006.

Russia, which shares a short border with North Korea, confirmed its facilities detected a nuclear test in northeastern North Korea, the ITAR-Tass news agency said, citing an unnamed Russian Defense Ministry official.

In Washington, a U.S. counter-proliferation official said there was reason to believe North Korea had conducted a nuclear test. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Monday's tests raise the stakes in the tense international standoff over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

"If North Korea carried out a nuclear test, it would clearly violate U.N. Security Council resolutions," chief government spokesman Takeo Kawamura told reporters in Tokyo. "We will definitely not tolerate it."

Japan will request an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea, Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka said, according to the Kyodo news agency.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency security session. His spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, confirmed that a North Korean nuclear test was possible.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Andy Laine said: "At this point, we've seen the reports and we're trying to get more information, but we're not able to confirm at this time." An official said the U.S. was gravely concerned by the claim and was analyzing the data.

North Korea did not say where or when the test took place. But seismologists from the U.S., South Korea and Japan reported activity shortly after 9:50 a.m. in a northeastern area where North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.

An emergency siren sounded in the Chinese border city of Yanji, 130 miles (200 kilometers) northwest from the test site. A receptionist at Yanji's International Hotel said she and several hotel guests felt the ground tremble.

An official at Yanji's government seismological bureau, who declined to give his name, said his agency confirmed that some type of explosion occurred, "but it is hard to say what kind of blast it was."

Russian authorities were analyzing data to determine the force of the blast, ITAR-Tass said,

The Japan Meteorological Agency measured the seismic activity at magnitude-5.3. Quake expert Gen Aoki noted that its depth was "very shallow."

"The area is not active seismically so it is highly possible that it could be an artificial quake," Aoki said in Tokyo.

In Seoul, the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources reported seismic activity in Kilju in North Hamgyong Province _ the same area where North Korea carried out a nuclear test in October 2006.

Seismological measurements back North Korea's claim that the test was far stronger than in 2006. The previous test measured magnitude-3.6, an official at the Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul said.

The reported test-fire of the short-range missile took place at the Musudan-ri launchpad on North Korea's northeast coast, Yonhap said. Sources described it as a ground-to-air missile with a range of 80 miles (130 kilometers).

Japan's coast guard had said Friday that North Korea warned ships to steer clear of waters off a coastal city near the missile launch site, suggesting Pyongyang was preparing for a missile test. Yonhap also had reported brisk activity along the northeast coast over several days last week.

South Korean troops were on a high alert but there was no sign North Korean soldiers were massing along the heavily fortified border dividing the two nations, according to an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing agency policy.

The two Koreas technically remain at war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006, drawing widespread international condemnation and drawing stiff sanctions from the U.N. Security Council.

The Security Council demanded that North Korea eliminate its nuclear weapons and ordered countries to prevent Pyongyang from importing or exporting any material for weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missiles.

The surprise nuclear test prompted five nations to pressure the North to agree to dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for energy aid and other concessions _ a pact Pyongyang signed in February 2007. North Korea began disablement in November 2007.

North Korea is believed to have at least a half-dozen atomic bombs. However, experts say North Korean scientists have not yet mastered the miniaturization technology for mounting a nuclear device onto a long-range missile.

news/notes20090508f

[News on Today's Paper] fom [The Washington Post]

Threats to Judges, Prosecutors Soaring
Worried Court Personnel Resort To Guards, Identity Shields, Weapons

By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 25, 2009

Threats against the nation's judges and prosecutors have sharply increased, prompting hundreds to get 24-hour protection from armed U.S. marshals. Many federal judges are altering their routes to work, installing security systems at home, shielding their addresses by paying bills at the courthouse or refraining from registering to vote. Some even pack weapons on the bench.

The problem has become so pronounced that a high-tech "threat management" center recently opened in Crystal City, where a staff of about 25 marshals and analysts monitor a 24-hour number for reporting threats, use sophisticated mapping software to track those being threatened and tap into a classified database linked to the FBI and CIA.

"I live with a constant heightened sense of awareness," said John R. Adams, a federal judge in Ohio who began taking firearms classes after a federal judge's family was slain in Chicago and takes a pistol to the courthouse on weekends. "If I'm going to carry a firearm, I'd better know how to use it."

The threats and other harassing communications against federal court personnel have more than doubled in the past six years, from 592 to 1,278, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Worried federal officials blame disgruntled defendants whose anger is fueled by the Internet; terrorism and gang cases that bring more violent offenders into federal court; frustration at the economic crisis; and the rise of the "sovereign citizen" movement -- a loose collection of tax protesters, white supremacists and others who don't respect federal authority.

Much of the concern was fueled by the slaying of U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow's husband and mother in their Chicago home in 2005 and a rampage 11 days later by an Atlanta rape suspect, who killed a judge, the court stenographer and a deputy. Last year, several pipe bombs exploded outside the federal courthouse in San Diego, and a drug defendant wielding a razor blade briefly choked a federal prosecutor during sentencing in Brooklyn, N.Y. In March, a homicide suspect attacked a judge in a California courtroom and was shot to death by police.

"Judges today have dangerous jobs, and that danger has many dimensions," said David Sellers, a spokesman for the administrative office of the U.S. Courts. "They are worried about security and safety 24 hours a day."

Although attacks on federal court personnel have not increased, the explosion of vitriolic threats has prompted a growing law enforcement crackdown aimed at preventing them. The U.S. Marshals Service, which protects judges and prosecutors, says several hundred require 24-hour guard for days, weeks or months at a time each year, depending on the case.

"We have to make sure that every judge and prosecutor can go to work every day and carry out the rule of law,'' said Michael Prout, assistant director of judicial security for the marshals, who have trained hundreds of police and deputies to better protect local court officials, an effort that began last year with Northern Virginia and Maryland officers.

"It's the core of our civil liberties,'' Prout said.

State court officials are seeing the same trend, although no numbers are available. "There's a higher level of anger, whether it's defendants or their families," said Timothy Fautsko, who coordinates security education for the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg and said threats are coming from violent offenders along with divorce, probate and other civil litigants.

The threats are emerging in cases large and small, on the Internet, by telephone, in letters and in person. In the District, two men have pleaded not guilty to charges of vowing to kill a federal prosecutor and kidnap her adult son if she didn't drop a homicide investigation. The judge in the CIA leak case got threatening letters when he ordered Vice President Richard B. Cheney's former chief of staff to prison. A man near Richmond was charged with mailing threats to a prosecutor over three traffic offenses. The face of a federal judge in the District was put in a rifle's cross hairs on the Internet after he issued a controversial environmental ruling, judicial sources said.

Hundreds of threats cascaded into the chambers of John M. Roll, the chief U.S. district judge in Arizona, in February after he allowed a lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants against a rancher to go forward. "They cursed him out, threatened to kill his family, said they'd come and take care of him. They really wanted him dead," said a law enforcement official who heard the calls -- which came from as far as Richmond and Baltimore -- but spoke on condition of anonymity because no one has been charged.

David Gonzales, the U.S. marshal in Arizona, said deputies went online and found Roll's home address posted on a Web site containing threatening comments. They put the judge under 24-hour protection for about a month, guarding his home in a secluded area just outside Tucson, screening his mail and escorting him to court, to the gym and to Mass. "Some deputies went to church more in a week than they had in their lives," Gonzales said.

Roll said that "any judge who goes through this knows it's a stressful situation" and that he and his family were grateful for the protection.

The stress nearly overcame Michael Cicconetti, a municipal court judge in Painesville, Ohio, after police played a tape for him of a defendant in a minor tax case plotting to blow up the judge's house. "I hear a man's voice talk about putting a bomb in the house, and another voice says, 'What if there are kids involved?' and the first man says, 'They're just collateral damage,' " the father of five recalled.

Cicconetti evacuated his family for a terrifying week in which they were under guard and stayed at friends' houses. "I couldn't go to work for two weeks. I was too shaken up. I couldn't think," he said. For months, the judge was nervous every time a car drove by his home. His children were afraid to go to bed; their grades dropped.

The judge now has a security system in his home -- and a stun gun within reach in court.

Sibley Reynolds, a state court judge in Alabama who prosecutors said was threatened last year by the son of a defendant convicted of stealing about $3,000 from a humane shelter, packs the real thing -- a Colt automatic pistol. He keeps it under his robe, in his waistband.

"I don't go anywhere without my security with me," Reynolds said.

Court officials could not say how often judges arm themselves. But the marshals have installed home security systems for most federal judges since the Lefkow incident, and many are removing their photos from court Web sites and shielding their home addresses. Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan in the District said judges who have handled terrorism matters are hesitant to travel to the Middle East, or to South America if they've had drug-trafficking cases.

U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen in Chicago said he has "stopped even mentioning publicly that I have children. Normally, parents want to be visibly associated with their kids. Judges now think everything is on the Internet.''

The Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking arm headed by the Supreme Court chief justice, will soon distribute a DVD with security tips. It will be called Project 365, for security 365 days a year.

"Judges today are far more security-conscious than they ever have been," said Henry E. Hudson, a federal judge in Richmond who is working on the DVD. "I don't think it's at the point where it's interfering with their judgment and dedication to their jobs.''

news.notes20090525g

[Today's News] from [The Guardian]

North Korea tests nuclear weapon 'as powerful as Hiroshima bomb'
Country risks further international isolation as underground nuclear explosion triggers earthquake

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Tania Branigan in Beijing
guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 May 2009 11.59 BST
Article history

North Korea today risked further international isolation after it claimed to have successfully tested a nuclear weapon as powerful as the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

The test comes less than two months after the North enraged the US and its allies by test firing a long-range ballistic missile.

The KNCA news agency, the regime's official mouthpiece, said: "We have successfully conducted another nuclear test on 25 May as part of the republic's measures to strengthen its nuclear deterrent."

Officials in South Korea said they had detected a tremor consistent with those caused by an underground nuclear explosion. The country's Yonhap news agency reported that the North had test fired three short-range missiles immediately after the nuclear test from a base on the east coast.

The underground atomic explosion, at 9.54am local time, created an earthquake measuring magnitude 4.5 in Kilju county in the country's north-east, reports said.

President Barack Obama called the test a matter of grave concern to all countries. "North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," Obama said in a statement. "North Korea's behaviour increases tensions and undermines stability in north-east Asia."

The UN security council will hold an emergency meeting in New York later today to discuss its response to the latest escalation in the crisis. Obama and other leaders did not offer details on the council's possible response.

China, North Korea's key ally, said it was "resolutely opposed" to the test, urging its neighbour to avoid actions that would sharpen tensions and return to six-party arms-for-disarmament talks.

Japan, which considers itself high on the North's potential hit list, said it would seek a new resolution condemning the test.

Russian defence experts estimated the explosion's yield at between 10 and 20 kilotons, many times more than the 1 kiloton measured in its first nuclear test in 2006 and about as powerful as the bombs the US used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the second world war. One kiloton is equal to the force produced by 1,000 tons of TNT.

The force of the blast made the ground tremble in the Chinese border city of Yanji, 130 miles away.

The North Korean news agency said the test had been "safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control. The test will contribute to defending the sovereignty of the country and the nation and socialism and ensuring peace and security on the Korean peninsula and the region."

Gordon Brown described the test as "erroneous, misguided and a danger to the world". The prime minister added: "This act will undermine prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula and will do nothing for North Korea's security.

South Korea and Japan condemned the test, North Korea's second since it exploded its first nuclear device in October 2006 in defiance of international opinion. That test prompted the UN security to pass a resolution banning Pyongyang from activities related to its ballistic missile programme.

The South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, convened a session of the country's security council after seismologists reported earthquakes in the Kilju region, site of the North's first nuclear test.

In Tokyo, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Takeo Kawamura, said the test was "a clear violation of the UN security council resolution and cannot be tolerated".

North Korea had warned of a second nuclear test after the UN condemned its test-launch of a ballistic missile on 5 April and agreed to tighten sanctions put in place in 2006.

Pyongyang insisted it had put a peaceful communications satellite in orbit, but experts said the technology and methods were identical to those used to launch a long-range Taepodong-2 missile.

After the UN refused to apologise for condemning the launch, North Korea expelled international inspectors, threatened to restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor – which it had agreed to start dismantling in 2007 – and walked away from six-party nuclear talks.

Today's test will add to fears that the North is moving closer to possessing the ability to mount a nuclear warhead on long-range missiles that are capable, in theory, of reaching Hawaii and Alaska.

"This test, if confirmed, could indicate North Korea's decision to work at securing actual nuclear capabilities," Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongkuk University in Seoul, told Reuters.

"North Korea had been expecting the new US administration to mark a shift from the previous administration's stance, but is realising that there are no changes. It may have decided that a second test was necessary. [It] seems to be reacting to the US and South Korean administrations' policies."

Analysts believe the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, hopes to use the test to shore up support from the military amid mounting speculation that he is about to name one of his three sons as his successor.

Kim, 67, appears to be re-establishing his grip on power since reportedly suffering a stroke last August. Today's test is a direct challenge to attempts by Obama to engage the North and stem the spread of nuclear weapons.

Despite promising a fresh start to bilateral relations, Obama, who denounced last month's missile launch as "a provocation," has so far failed to persuade North Korean to enter into negotiations.

Kim Myong-chol, executive director of the Centre for Korean-American Peace in Tokyo, who is close to Pyongyang, said the test was a reminder that North Korea "is going it alone as a nuclear power".

"North Korea doesn't need any talks with America. America is tricky and undesirable," he said. "It does not implement its own agreements.

"We are not going to worry about sanctions. If they sanction us, we will become more powerful. Sanctions never help America; they are counter-productive … We don't care about America and what they say."

news.notes20090525h

[Today's Paper] from [Slate Magazine]

North Korea Goes Nuclear (Again)

By Daniel Politi
Posted Monday, May 25, 2009, at 6:32 AM ET

The Los Angeles Times banners, and the New York Times leads with, the late-breaking announcement by North Korea that it successfully carried out an underground nuclear test this morning. It was the country's second underground test in three years and came after the communist nation was on the receiving end of widespread international condemnation for its rocket test launch in April. According to North Korea's official news agency, the "nuclear test was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology." Experts are still waiting for independent confirmation of the test's strength. Early morning wire stories report that the North also fired three short-range missiles later in the day.

The Washington Post leads with a look at how threats against judges and prosecutors have been on the rise, which has prompted many to pay more attention to their security. Many have 24-hour protection from U.S. marshals, and some even carry weapons while they work. The number of threats against federal court personnel has more than doubled in the last six years, and a "threat management" center has even opened recently to keep track of them all. Even though attacks haven't actually increased, "the explosion of vitriolic threats has prompted a growing law enforcement crackdown aimed at preventing them," notes the paper.

Not much is known about North Korea's nuclear test, but it came after months of rising tension and the country's withdrawal from the so-called six-party talks. Some analysts in South Korea said they weren't surprised by the test. The North has been threatening to test another weapon unless the United Nations apologized for the sanctions it imposed after the April missile test. Despite these previous warnings, the test "clearly caught South Korea and the United States off guard," notes the NYT. North Korea is thought to have enough plutonium to make six to eight bombs. Many considered the 2006 test a failure, and analysts are waiting for results of this test to see whether North Korea may have improved its capabilities. The 2006 test had a strength of about 1 kiloton—tests by other countries usually range between 20 to 40 kilotons—and one analyst tells the LAT it seems the North may have been aiming for something in the 4-kiloton range. According to early morning wire reports, Russia's Defense Ministry estimated the blast's yield at 10 to 20 kilotons, but Russia also gave a far higher estimate of the 2006 test than most others.

The test came at a time when there has been heightened speculation about who will take over for Kim Jong Il, as well as increased tension with the United States because of the two American journalists who were charged with illegally entering the country and will be tried next month. It's no secret that Kim Jong Il wants to have one-on-one talks with the United States and has apparently been frustrated with the lack of progress on that end. So the test may have been a ploy to get some diplomatic concessions. Although widely condemned, the 2006 test focused worldwide attention on North Korea and the Bush administration later agreed to remove the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for progress in dismantling its nuclear program.

A few weeks ago, the WP's Carol Leonnig raised some troubling questions about how a company owned by the nephew of Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania received millions in no-bid contracts. Today, Leonnig continues on the Murtha beat and, in a front-page piece, details how Mountaintop Technologies has benefitted from the largess of the influential chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. The company, which has hired the lobbying firm where Murtha's brother worked, received at least $36 million over the past eight years in earmarks and military contracts without competition and with the backing of Murtha. The reason why the story is so eyebrow-raising isn't exactly because of the money involved, but rather because the registered defense firm was awarded work in a variety of fields, including law enforcement and medicine, in which it had no apparent experience. In fact, the company often ended up acting like a glorified middleman in what sometimes may seem like an episode of federal spending gone wild. In one case, the company was tasked with setting up an emergency operations center to facilitate communications between first responders. Now the five-person emergency command center in Cambria County has 40 computers at its disposal in case of a major crisis.

The NYT fronts a look at how foreclosures have shifted toward those with prime mortgages and decent financial histories who have been affected by the economic downturn. With the unemployment rate expected to continue increasing, everyone expects the number of foreclosures to rise along with it and generate what the paper calls "the latest phase of the nation's real estate disaster." Economist say we're now in the "third wave" of the crisis—the first foreclosures involved speculators, which was followed by those who couldn't pay the mortgage when introductory rates ended—and it's about to get worse. Some warn that if foreclosures continue to accelerate it could pose a problem to already-ailing banks.

In a dispatch from Baghdad, the LAT talks to two Sunni insurgent leaders who warn they're ready to take up arms again if the United States can't incorporate them into Iraq's political system. Some U.S. officials are worried that it may only be a matter of time until the "dormant insurgent groups" rise up again. As American troops prepare to leave Iraqi cities, the insurgents aren't optimistic that things will get better. Even though these insurgents aren't part of the Awakening movement, who actually joined forces with Americans, they're still angered by the fact that their fellow Sunnis haven't received what they were promised and continue to feel threatened by the Shiite leaders. The LAT says this could even be a bad sign for Afghanistan, where the United States hopes to create similar partnerships but Taliban fighters may not be so eager to join after seeing what happened with the Sunnis in Iraq.

In analyzing possible candidates to replace David Souter on the Supreme Court, most have focused on how the court isn't likely to change much since Obama is likely to choose someone who agrees with him on social issues. But the NYT points out that if Souter's replacement has a different view on presidential power, the new vote "could be pivotal" since there have been many 5-4 decision on that issue. But the truth is that most of the candidates believed to be in Obama's short list haven't really said much that could give us some hints of whether they might be more sympathetic toward presidential claims of authority. One of them, Judge Diane Wood, has been skeptical about presidential claims of broad authority in national security issues, while Solicitor General Elena Kagan's past suggests she might be more sympathetic toward the White House.

The NYT may have been able to beat the Post to the Watergate story, according to two former Times employees, who are speaking out about the issue for the first time. Apparently, a former NYT reporter was told some juicy details about the Watergate break-in by the acting director of the FBI. The reporter went back to the Washington bureau and told the story to an editor, who took notes and recorded the conversation. But then the reporter couldn't follow up because he had already quit the paper to attend law school. It seems the story was just forgotten about by the editor, who was focused on the Republican convention and then left on a trip to Alaska. Interestingly though, the revelation means that the two top FBI officials leaked details about the scandal.

In the WP's op-ed page, Steven Schooner points out that there is unlikely to be "an accurate accounting of the real human cost of our military actions abroad" during today's Memorial Day services. That's because most people simply don't count the 1,350—as of June 2008—civilian contractors who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the real numbers are likely much higher since no one really keeps track. Many might dismiss contractors as mere profiteers, but the truth is that these deaths would have likely been servicemembers if it wasn't for the fact that the modern U.S. military cannot run without contractors. "In a representative democracy, public awareness of the human cost of our engagements abroad is critical," writes Schooner. "If we're going to tally the human cost of our efforts, the public deserves a full accounting."

news.notes20090525i

[Asia News] from [The Wall Street Journal]

North Korea Tests Second Nuclear Device, Fires Short-Range Missile

By EVAN RAMSTAD

SEOUL – North Korea conducted its second test of a nuclear device Monday morning and its state media reported the explosion was bigger than the first device it tested in October 2006.

Several hours later, North Korea test-fired a short-range missile, adding to a pattern of aggressive behavior that outside analysts and diplomats believe shows the North's military is asserting more control in the country.

The developments – coming less than two months after the country tested a long-range missile – once again showed that North Korea is making progress building weapons of mass destruction and that the words and actions of other countries to date have not been able to stop its advancement.

U.S. President Barack Obama called the action a "matter of grave concern to all nations." Japan condemned the nuclear-device test as a threat to peace and stability in the region and called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council in response. Japan also delivered a letter of condemnation to North Korea's embassy in Beijing.

China, which is North Korea's biggest economic and trading partner and closest ally, did not immediately respond to the news.

In a statement, North Korea's state media said the test of the nuclear device answered "problems arising in further increasing the power of nuclear weapons." It also said the test would "contribute to defending the sovereignty of the nation."

The state media announced the nuclear-device test at noon local time, about two hours after defense monitors in South Korea detected an "artificial earthquake" in the same place where North Korea conducted its first nuclear test, a remote mountainous area of North Hamgyeong province in the country's northeast.

The South Korean monitors reported the latest test recorded a seismic reading of 4.5 on the Richter scale, compared to a reading of 3.8 for the 2006 test.

North Korea never disclosed the size of its first atomic test, though outside analysts estimated it was less than one kiloton of TNT. By contrast, the first nuclear device tested by the U.S. in July 1945 amounted to 20-kiloton of explosive.

On April 5, North Korea fired a multi-stage, long-range missile, which flew across Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean. It flew farther than the two previous long-range missiles North Korea had tested, one in 1998 and the other in 2006.

In the seven weeks since then, North Korea has pulled out of six-nation aid-for-disarmament talks and kicked out international weapons inspectors. It had earlier detained with little explanation two American journalists it claims were infringing on its territory and a South Korean businessman working in an industrial park the two countries jointly run.

The aggressive behavior began last October after the North's dictator, Kim Jong Il, recovered from a stroke. Since then, succession has arisen as a major issue in Pyongyang and groups in North Korea's elite have begun jockeying for power, with military hardliners appearing to gain an edge.

U.S. officials in recent weeks have said Washington hasn't faced such uncertainty in dealing with North Korea in 15 years, when Mr. Kim was in the midst of consolidating power in the wake of the death of his father, North Korea's founder and longtime leader Kim Il Sung.

The elder Kim began the nuclear weapons program in the 1970s. North Korea has used the development of nuclear weapons to build its own military strength, drive a weapons-sale program and as a diplomatic tool for extracting economic aid and security concessions from other countries.

The development came as South Korea is coping with the suicide of former president Roh Moo-hyun, whose policy of no-questions-asked outreach to North Korea fell out of favor after Pyongyang's first test of a nuclear device.

Mr. Roh conducted a summit meeting with Kim Jong Il in October 2007, just four months before leaving office. His successor, Lee Myung-bak, won election in part by promising to take a harder line with North Korea. He ended the South's unconditional assistance to North Korea last year, a step that cost the North about $300 million in aid.

Before the nuclear test was announced, North Korea's state media said that Kim Jong Il sent a message of condolence to Mr. Roh's family.

news.notes20090525j

[ASIA NEWS] from [CNN.com]

North Korea's second nuclear test stirs outrage
・North Korea conducts second nuclear test, riling world governments
・Emergency meeting of U.N. Security Council called
・North also tested a short-range missile, White House says
・U.S. says nuclear test was in "blatant defiance" of the Security Council

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea delivered on its threat Monday, conducting a second nuclear test that angered governments around the globe.

The North had threatened to do so unless the U.N. Security Council apologized for imposing sanctions on it following a rocket test on April 5.

The secretive communist state also apparently test-fired a short-range missile on Monday, the White House said.

Japan called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. One is expected Monday, said Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.

The White House -- which less than three weeks ago announced a new diplomatic effort to restart stalled talks with North Korea about its nuclear program -- said the test was in "blatant defiance" of the Security Council.

"North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," the White House said. "The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community."

The country announced its underground nuclear test a little more than an hour after the U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 4.7 seismic disturbance at the site of North Korea's first nuclear test.

There was no immediate information on the yield of the weapon used in Monday's test. The Russian Defense Ministry said the explosion was between 10 to 20 kilotons. The U.S. State Department said it was analyzing the data.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency would say only that the latest test was safely conducted "on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control."

U.S. intelligence estimated that the first North Korean test -- in October 2006 -- produced an explosion equal to less than 1,000 tons of TNT. The low yield was a fraction of the size of the bombs the United States dropped on Japan at the end of World War II.

Intelligence analysts had predicted North Korea would conduct a second rocket or nuclear test.

The North threatened to do so after the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to condemn its April launch as a violation of a 2006 resolution that bans North Korea's ballistic missile activity.

North Korea insisted the rocket was a communications satellite. It retaliated by threatening to walk away from the six-party talks aimed at disarming the country of nuclear weapons.

The talks -- involving China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- have been aimed at persuading North Korea to scrap its nuclear program.

The North also expelled international inspectors from its nuclear sites, announced plans to restart the reactor that produces plutonium for its nuclear weapons, and threatened to launch more rockets and another nuclear device.

Monday's test was conducted "as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way," the North Korean news agency said.

"They think this will enhance and embolden their diplomatic capability to deal with the other countries," said Han Sung Joo, former South Korean ambassador to the United States. "Of course, it may be working the other way. But from their point of view, this is their lifeline, which they want to maintain."

North Korea's latest move could clear the way for the United States and the other members of the six-party talks, minus North Korea, to impose new punitive measures against a country desperate for food and energy assistance.

For now, however, the North's nuclear arms program is not a major security threat, analysts say. The country has yet to build an effective bomb or develop an effective delivery system to a target country.

Last year, North Korea acknowledged producing roughly 88 pounds (40 kilograms) of enriched plutonium -- enough for about seven nuclear bombs.

Analysts say North Korea is years from having a weapon it can put atop a long-range missile like those in the U.S., Chinese or Russian arsenals.

"I know a lot of people may think, 'Oh no, a nuclear test. Does that mean war, conflict in the Korean Peninsula?'" said Jim Walsh, an international security analyst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"The answer is 'no.'"

news.notes20090525k

[Top News] from [REUTERS]

North Korea conducts nuclear test, U.N. to meet

Mon May 25, 2009 4:18am EDT
By Jonathan Thatcher

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said it successfully conducted a nuclear test on Monday, a move certain to further isolate the prickly state, which argues it has no choice but to build an atomic arsenal to protect itself in a hostile world.

The test, the North's second, follows years of on-off negotiations with regional powers, which have been pressing the impoverished state to give up its nuclear ambitions in return for massive aid and an end to the country's pariah status.

Ratcheting up tensions further, North Korea fired a short-range missile just hours later, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing a diplomatic source. The missile was fired from North Korea's east coast missile site at Musudan-ri.

The U.N. Security Council would hold an emergency meeting later on Monday in the wake of the nuclear test, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations said.

"(North Korea) successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way," the North's official KCNA news agency said.

It added that the underground test "was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control."

The U.S. Geological Survey said it had detected a 4.7-magnitude quake in an area close to where the test site is thought to be.

However, as with the first nuclear test by the communist state in October 2006, it could take some time before the outside world is able to gauge how successful it was. The first one was seen as only a partial success.

The news knocked South Korean financial markets, with the main share index dropping 4 percent at one stage and the won falling more than 1 percent against the dollar on fears the test would raise tension in a region which accounts for one-sixth of the global economy.

South Korean financial markets later recovered much of their earlier losses as investors bet that any direct impact on markets would be short-lived unless there was actual military conflict.

Market reaction elsewhere was limited, with safe-haven gold prices falling slightly on the day and Japan's Nikkei average clinging to gains.

"The reported test appears to be aimed at securing ultimate endorsement of its nuclear power status from the United States and bringing Washington to the negotiation table," said Kim Sung-han, a professor at Korea University.

"It could increase investor concerns about South Korea as the test may further worsen already soured inter-Korea relations," he added.

However, several analysts said they expected the impact on financial markets to be short-lived.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Takeo Kawamura, said the test was unacceptable and a violation of a U.N. Security Council Resolution.

North Korea had for weeks threatened to conduct the test in response to tighter international sanctions following its launch of a rocket in April. Pyongyang said that launch put a communications satellite into space, but Western nations said it was a disguised long-range missile.

Following the added sanctions, Pyongyang also said it would no longer be a party to six-nation talks on giving up its nuclear weapons program.

"North Korea's strategic objective hasn't changed. That objective is to win the attention of the Obama administration, to push the North Korea issue up the agenda," said Xu Guangyu, a researcher at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

Xu said China, the nearest Pyongyang has to a powerful ally, might support a U.N. resolution censuring North Korea but would not back much harsher sanctions.

"China's goal is to ensure that the six-party talks process does not fall apart. Stricter sanctions are not going to achieve that objective," Xu said.

Some analysts have said the test may also be aimed at boosting the position at home of leader Kim Jong-il, who is widely believed to have suffered a stroke last year.

Several say Kim, who succeeded his father to create the world's first communist dynasty, may be trying to secure the succession for one of his three sons and that a nuclear test in defiance of world opinion could help him win support from his hardline military to do so.

"One has to wonder if this is part of the internal political transition that may be occurring inside North Korea," said Jim Walsh, an expert in international security and a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

news.notes20090525l

[NEWS] from [BBC]

Outrage over N Korea nuclear test
There have been expressions of international outrage after North Korea said it had successfully carried out a underground nuclear test.

US President Barack Obama described the North Korean action as a "threat to international peace" and said international action was called for.

China and Russia also condemned the test, but called for a return to talks.

A number of external agencies confirmed an explosion, probably associated with a nuclear test, had taken place.

It appeared to be a much more powerful blast than North Korea's first nuclear test, in October 2006.

An emergency session of the UN Security Council is being convened by Russia, which currently occupies the council's rotating presidency.

BBC world affairs correspondent David Loyn says North Korea appears to have moved from a posture of negotiation to confrontation over the nuclear issue.

'Safeguarding sovereignty'

An official communique read out on North Korean state radio said another round of underground nuclear testing had been "successfully conducted... as part of measures to enhance the Republic's self-defensive nuclear deterrent in all directions".

It said the test had been "safely conducted at a new higher level in terms of explosive power and control technology".

The test would "contribute to safeguard the sovereignty of the country and the nation and socialism", the communique said.

The North gave no details of the test location, but South Korean officials said that a seismic tremor was detected in the north-eastern region around the town of Kilju - the site of North Korea's first nuclear test.

Geological recordings of the tremor suggest it was much larger than the 2006 test. That was backed up by the Russian defence ministry, which detected a blast of up to 20 kilotons - comparable to the American bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Just hours after the test, North Korea appeared to have test-fired two short-range missiles, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, but this was not confirmed.

In a strongly worded statement, President Obama said the North's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatened peace and was in "blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council".

"The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the six-party talks as well as other members of the UN Security Council in the days ahead," his statement said.

A spokesman for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the test was "a provocation that can never be tolerated", while Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said any nuclear test by the North would be "unacceptable".

Both said they would ask for action from the UN Security Council.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply disturbed" by reports of the test - which, if confirmed, he said would violate UN Security Council resolution 1718, which demands that North Korea refrain from nuclear testing.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he condemned the test "in the strongest terms" and said it would "undermine prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula".

Allies' caution

Meanwhile, the foreign ministries of North Korea's closest allies, Russia and China, echoed the words of condemnation.

China said it was "resolutely opposed" to the test, while Russia called it "a blow to non-proliferation efforts".

But both urged North Korea back to the negotiating table - with Russia saying six-party talks were the "only solution".

Correspondents say both countries are fearful of the destabilising effect that military action or cutting off trade ties could have on their impoverished former protegee - with the spectre of millions of refugees pouring over their borders should the regime implode.

But with their shared policy of attempting to engage the North in dialogue having apparently failed, it is unclear what sway their approach will have when the UN Security Council meets later.

Last month, the UN Security Council adopted a statement calling on North Korea to comply with a 2006 resolution banning missile tests after it launched.

This was a weaker response than the full resolution sought by the US and Japan, due to resistance from Russia and China.

This time, correspondents say, they may be under pressure to back a stronger response.

Rocket condemnation

The North says it remains under military threat from its historic rival, South Korea, and South Korea's allies, primarily the US - citing such examples as the annual US-South Korean military exercises undertaken in South Korea.

It says it is entitled to retain a military deterrent.

Six-party disarmament talks involving the US, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas have stalled over Pyongyang's failure to agree how information it has handed over on its nuclear activities and facilities should be verified.

Pyongyang pulled out of the talks last month, in protest against international condemnation of its rocket launch.

North Korea had previously agreed to dismantle its Yongbyon nuclear facility as part of an aid-for-disarmament deal and, in response, the US removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist.

But the North now believes it is no longer bound by its previous bilateral agreements with the US and agreements under the six-party talks, reports the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul, South Korea.

He says the North, which already faces a stringent sanctions regime, probably thinks it has little to lose.