North Korea nuclear test.

[osarusan]

North Korea has carried out a successful test of nuclear material (not an actual weapon).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6032525.stm

Oh Jesus!!

[BohsPartisan]

To be honest I'd be more worried about the middle east conflict expanding. North Korea is just a stick to wave at the American public to keep them paranoid. I'm totally against nukes no matter who has them, but I love the hypocricy of the US Government going around saying who can and can't have nuclear weapons when they have a nuclear arsenal bigger than the rest of the world put together.

[osarusan]

As I live over here, it is a major concern!!

I dont know if the North Koreans have done this to show they must not be taken lightly, or if is just a f##k you to the "West", or just to prove they could, but whatever the reason, I'm worried about a greater build up of nuclear weapons as each country tries to build a proper deterrent to each other.

As I only live about 30 minutes away from the biggest US Navy base outside the USA, I'm not in the best of locations.

[Block G Raptor]

surely the NK'ians having the bomb means the US will back off a touch and leave them in peace thus difusing the situation?

I wouldn't bet on it!
look at Iraq "they have WMD's I Know lets start a war and give them the perfect opportunity to use them!!"
I sometimes wonder is Homer Simpson pulling GWB's strings

[brendy_éire]

N Korea won't actually use them, they would be wiped out in a matter of hours by everyone else.
What they've done is just ensured that the US won't invade them.
It's, mainly, US foreign policy leaving states like N Korea and Iran of believing that the only way to be safe from invasion is to have nuclear weapons. Would Iraq have been invaded had it had nuclear weapons? I think not.

[pete]

N Korea won't actually use them, they would be wiped out in a matter of hours by everyone else. What they've done is just ensured that the US won't invade them.

I agree. Iraq has been a lesson to all enemies of the US that if you have Nukes you safe. I have no doubt Iran is pursuing nukes too which will effectively insure against a US invasion. The difference with North Korea is its a very closed society completely paranoid & may not make the most rational decisions.

[BohsPartisan]

The difference with North Korea is its a very closed society completely paranoid & may not make the most rational decisions.

Not dissimilar to the US then.

[Mr A]

That a total basket case government like North Korea's is bad news for everyone. Those countries around them that haven't got the bomb may now consider developing it as a deterrent.

It's all well and good talking about the hypocracy of the big powers, but ultimately they're the only ones with any hope of stopping these loo-la's developing insane weaponry and distributing it to similarly nutty regimes. It remains to be seen what can actually be done to a country to convince them to change their ways that doesn't give a toss about it's own citizens short of war, but there's little doubt that this is a very sinister development indeed.

[BohsPartisan]

I disagree. I don't think they would be developing the bomb if it wasn't for the threat of invasion from the US. As Iraq has proved the "big powers" (read the US) only make things worse. The US has no problem with India and Pakistan having Nukes and I'd see those two as being more likely to kick off than North and South korea.

[liam88]

leave them in peace thus difusing the situation?

N Korea won't actually use them, they would be wiped out in a matter of hours by everyone else.

You seem to be looking at it as if the North Korean government are pragmatic, rational and peace-loving.

I'm sorry to say this but they are insane. Not only do they have a head of state who has been dead for decades, hold rallys resembling Nuremberg and have absolutley no respect for human rights but the only country who has any even slight influence over them is their neighbour who occupies other countries, harvests organs for profits, is responsible for 90% of the worlds executions, forces women to have abortion and shoots down it's own people in the streets (yes it was 1989 but don't think they wouldn't do it again in the same situation tomorrow-they would).

The US has no problem with India and Pakistan having Nukes and I'd see those two as being more likely to kick off than North and South korea.

Not a chance. The Idian government has issues and they Pakistani government may be a weak puppet for the evil fundementalists but both know the score. Neither will risk their nations in nuclear war. King Jong Il is destroying his own country already and doesn't even realise it because he is a power crazed lunatic who thinks he is a mouthpiece for his dead father and their idea of Communism.

I've said it before -South East Asia is a region on the brink of war. Neither the North Korean nor Burmese governments have any rationality at all (the latter of which is developing a nuclear weapon that will now be spead up by North Korea's breakthrough), China is expanding at a huge rate and has spread its pure evil influence into Tibet, Burma, North Korea, Laos and Vietnam, whilst relations between Japan and China, South Korea and North Korea are plummeting rapidly. That's before you even mention Taiwan.

What i'm trying to say is the region is easily as unstable as the Middle East only it has the potential to drag the whole world in on a scale never seen before. The tensions are higher than ever and it'll take one action to plunge the region into a conflict starting the third world war. Kim Jong Il is one of the biggest nutters on the planet and is now sitting bang in the middle with a nuclear weapon.

[ccfcman]

Who decided that the USA could dictate who can and cant have nukes?

They've a flippin' BodyBuilder as Governor of a state with an economy on par with Germany's and a cowboy for a president :/

[pete]

I see the UK are asking for UN sanctions now. I don't know what the solution is but seems to be no point in sanctions as will only affect the ordinary citizens.

[BohsPartisan]

I agree. They are already starving. This will only drive them into the arms of the government

[Lim till i die]

I've said it before -South East Asia is a region on the brink of war. Neither the North Korean nor Burmese governments have any rationality at all (the latter of which is developing a nuclear weapon that will now be spead up by North Korea's breakthrough)

Just picked up on this to highlight the general tone of you entire post, that tone of course being one of alarmist nonsense

Burma building a nuclear bomb

China Being "pure evil"

Spare me your propaganda it looks ridiculous. North Korea developing a nuke is one of the best things that could have happened its (admitedly fairly hard up) citizens in the current world climate.

And if you think North Korea joining the nuclear club is as a result of expansionist Chinese foriegn policy you know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about world politics

[liam88]

Confirmation from Russia’s atomic agency Minatom this month that talks had resumed with the Burmese military over the development of a nuclear research reactor in the central of the country sent a shockwave through the international community.
The news sparked fears that Burma’s ruling junta was on a path to nuclear proliferation. While the military government said in 2000, they wanted the facility for medical research purposes, many observers are suspicious.

Perhaps the best example of the military junta’s questionable priorities is its determination to build a nuclear reactor. This project has caused considerable unease in the region, and in centers like Vienna and Washington. Over the past few months, this concern has begun to turn to alarm, as reports have emerged suggesting that the reactor may be built with the assistance of North Korea. This has raised the specter of a future nuclear weapons program that could intimidate Burma’s neighbors and be used as a bargaining chip against the US and its allies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4921116.stm

http://www.freetibet.org/campaigns/uc061006.html

http://www.buyhard.fsnet.co.uk/forcedabortions.htm

Just a few quotes and links to demonstrate that the Burmese regime's nuclear weapons ambitions and the Chinese regime being pure evil is anything but "alarmist nonsense".

How is the propaganda? I have nothing to gain from it. I've studied the region for some time (half my family being Burmese and having visited China in 2003), and have long been involved in human rights campaigns regarding Burma, China, Tibet and North Korea. This is simply my assesment.

I never said that North Korea gained nuclear weapons as a result of Chinese expansion.

Explain how North Korea developing a nuclear weapon will help their citizens?

Finally I find "fairly hard up" an undestatement regarding the living conditions of citizens under one of the most insane and brutal dictatorships in the world.