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UP FRONTThursday 7 January 2016
US casts doubt on North Korea’s H-bomb China holding the key to pressing
North Korea on nuclear weapons
FOSTER KLUG in 2013 was co-sponsored thought the estimated ex-
EDITH M. LEDERER by the U.S. and China, and plosive yield from the blast M. PENNINGTON
Associated Press both countries will be key was much smaller than Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) to an agreement on a new what even a failed hy- WASHINGTON (AP) — Diplomatic engagement has
— North Korea’s declara- one. Whether any new drogen bomb detonation failed to stop North Korea’s nuclear weapons pro-
tion that it had tested a sanctions can slow North would produce. gram. Sanctions have been tightened with little result.
hydrogen bomb for the Korea’s nuclear program, South Korean lawmaker And military force could be catastrophic. So what
first time was greeted with however, remains to be Lee Cheol Woo said he was can the world do to bring Kim Jong Un’s renegade
widespread condemna- seen. told in a briefing by the Na- government into line? The answer may rest with Chi-
tion — but also skepticism There was a burst of jubi- tional Intelligence Service na.
— as world powers vowed lation and pride in North that Pyongyang may not While Beijing’s influence over North Korea appears to
Wednesday to punish the Korea’s capital of Pyong- have conducted a hydro- have diminished since Kim came to power in 2012,
impoverished and defiant yang, where a TV anchor gen bomb test given the it remains its key trading partner. Experts say Chi-
nation with new interna- said Wednesday’s test of relatively small size of the na could do more to restrict North Korea’s use of Chi-
tional sanctions. a “miniaturized” hydrogen seismic wave reported. nese banks and limit supplies of food and fuel that
The isolated country’s bomb had been a “perfect An estimated explosive provide an economic lifeline to Pyongyang.
fourth nuclear test since success” that elevated the yield of 6.0 kilotons and a Wednesday’s purported hydrogen bomb test will
2006 was a “reckless chal- country’s “nuclear might to quake with a magnitude of intensify pressure on China to tighten the screws on
Kim. It has been leery of taking such steps because
People walk by a screen showing the news reporting about an earthquake near North Korea’s of fears that a collapse of North Korea’s socialist gov-
nuclear facility, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. South Korean officials detected ernment could cause an influx of refugees and lead
an “artificial earthquake” near North Korea’s main nuclear test site Wednesday, a strong indica- to a pro-American, unified Korean nation on Chi-
tion that nuclear-armed Pyongyang had conducted its fourth atomic test. The letters read “5.1 na’s doorstep.
Earthquake near North Korea’s nuclear facility.” China immediately made plain its displeasure with
Pyongyang, saying it “firmly opposed” the test. “North
(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) Korea should stop taking any actions which would
worsen the situation on the Korean Peninsula,” For-
lenge to international the next level.” 4.8 (the U.S. reported 5.1) eign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told re-
norms of behavior and the A successful test would were detected, Lee said porters in Beijing.
authority of the U.N. Securi- mark a major and unan- he was told. That’s smaller China’s U.S. ambassador met at the White House on
ty Council,” said British Am- ticipated advance for the than the estimated yield of Wednesday with President Barack Obama’s national
bassador Matthew Rycroft. North’s still-limited nuclear 7.9 kilotons and 4.9-magni- security adviser, Susan Rice, and China joined the U.S.
The council met in an emer- arsenal and push its scien- tude quake reported after in supporting a U.N. Security Council statement that
gency session and called tists and engineers closer a 2013 nuclear test, he said, strongly condemned the test and pledged to pursue
the test “a clear violation” to their goal of building a and only a fraction of the new sanctions.
of its resolutions. It agreed warhead small enough to hundreds of kilotons that But North Korea has proved adept at circumventing
to start work immediately place on a missile that can a successful H-bomb test existing restrictions and at using its indigenous capa-
on a resolution for new reach the U.S. mainland. would usually yield. Even a bilities to develop its weapons. Because of its interna-
sanctions. But an early analysis by failed H-bomb detonation tional isolation, the North is less susceptible to finan-
The international com- the U.S. government was typically yields tens of kilo- cial sanctions than a major economy like Iran.
munity must respond with “not consistent with the tons, the NIS told Lee, who Incentives haven’t worked either. Three U.S. admin-
“steadily increasing pres- claims that the regime has sits on the parliament’s in- istrations, going back to President Bill Clinton, have
sure” and rigorous enforce- made of a successful hy- telligence committee. coaxed the North to disarm in exchange for aid, but
ment of existing measures, drogen bomb test,” White A miniaturized H-bomb can each effort has eventually failed.
said U.S. Ambassador Sa- House spokesman Josh Ear- trigger a weak quake, but And taking a tougher military stance against Pyong-
mantha Power. nest said. He added that only the U.S. and Russia yang means unpalatable risks. An American attack
Four rounds of U.N. sanc- nothing has happened in have such weapons, Lee could put U.S. ally South Korea in the firing line of the
tions have aimed at reining the last 24 hours to change cited the NIS as saying. world’s fifth-largest army, which could launch a mas-
in the North’s nuclear and Washington’s assessment “I’m pretty skeptical,” said sive artillery barrage on the capital, Seoul.
missile development, but of Pyongyang’s techni- Melissa Hanham, senior The Obama administration has claimed improved co-
Pyongyang has ignored cal or military capabilities. researcher at the James operation from China on North Korea policy. Beijing,
them and moved ahead The U.S. is still doing the Martin Center for Nonprolif- for example, supported a U.N. resolution in response
with programs to modern- work needed to learn more eration Studies at the Mid- to North Korea’s last nuclear test in 2013. According
ize its ballistic missiles and about the North’s test, he dlebury Institute for Interna- to Washington, China has improved its enforcement
nuclear weapons. added. Hours earlier, South tional Studies in Monterey, of existing sanctions, but could do more.
The last sanctions resolution Korea’s spy agency said it California. q Yet North Korea has balked at returning to interna-
tional aid-for-disarmament talks as it looks to assert
itself as a nuclear weapons state. It claims it needs
such weapons to deter an invasion by the United
States, which retains 28,000 troops in South Korea, a
legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with-
out a peace treaty.
Since the six-nation talks stalled in 2008, the North has
conducted three atomic test explosions and blasted
its first rocket into space as it hones technology that
could help it fire a weapon at America.
Secretary of State John Kerry repeated on Wednes-
day the U.S. stance that it will never accept North Ko-
rea as a nuclear state. “Actions such as this latest test
only strengthen our resolve,” he said.q
