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Elizabeth Dalziel / AP
From work to play, see pictures from inside the secretive country.
North Korea could carry out an underground test of a nuclear weapon as early as Tuesday night as the North's reclusive leadership dramatically tries to up the stakes with the U.S. and the West, U.S. officials told NBC News.
U.S. officials say North Korea may already have an arsenal between 12 and a "few dozen" far more advanced weapons, many more than generally believed.
The officials couldn't be specific on a date for the test, but they told NBC News they were "100 percent" certain there would be a nuclear test within the next two weeks or "at any time."
Tensions between North and South Korea increased this week when Pyongyang threatened to turn Seoul into "ashes." While the North regularly issues such threats, the South seemed to be taking this round of threats more seriously by increasing its security.
U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies have been monitoring test preparations at P'unggye-yok, the North Korean test site near the Chinese border, for the past several weeks. As new evidence of tunneling emerged, officials began to see Army Day celebrations scheduled for Wednesday (Tuesday night in the U.S.) as a possible date for the test.
It will be the first time the country's 29-year-old leader, Kim Jong Un, will get a chance to address the Korean People's Army as commander.
At the high end of the range, U.S. officials and other researchers said, North Korea may already have up to "a few dozen" nuclear weapons that could be fitted atop its vast fleet of ballistic missiles. Currently, North Korean missiles are limited to an intermediate range, capable of hitting cities in Japan or South Korea but not the United States. What the new test could reveal is an improvement in the type of weapons North Korea has.
For the past several years, the U.S. has been monitoring North Korean research into thermonuclear weapons, hydrogen bombs and bombs known as boosted fission weapons, in which plutonium and uranium are combined.
David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, or ISIS, a nonpartisan nuclear arms research group, said Tuesday that the tests may also be about ensuring the reliability of North Korea's current weapons design.
"Once you get beyond a dozen, it makes sense to test type and reliability of your weapons," he said.
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Albright said that his group's estimate of North Korea's weapons stockpile is a bit less than those provided by the U.S. officials but that ISIS, too, believes Pyongyang has "missile-deliverable weapons."
North Korea successfully tested nuclear weapons in 2006 and 2009. In both cases, the first word came in statements from the North Korean Foreign Ministry hours before the tests were carried out. No such statement has been issued yet, but a U.S. official said it's possible that this time North Korea wouldn't follow the same protocol.
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Ten days ago, North Korea failed in its attempt to launch an observation satellite, a test the U.S. believed was a cover for test of intercontinental missile technology. In response, the U.S. canceled an agreement that would have provided 241,000 tons of nutritional aid, while the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to "strongly condemn" the failed launch and said it would tighten sanctions against Pyongyang's government.
Albright added that North Korea might not want to test its weapons to their full yield in order to avoid another embarrassment, noting that the geology around the test site is fragile and that a large test could aggravate that issue.
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But imposing sanctions works!!!
This is a delicate situation. I worked on the 38th Parallel for my American company 3 different times doing software and hardware upgrades for the US Army data and phone systems. I remember the "dug-in" troops and the heavy weapons located on berms while driving from Seoul to the border. It really is serious and most Americans don't understand that. The north and south are at a stalemate. Never accepted peace. Flare ups happen time to time. The nuetral zone is always ready to explode there. As crazy as Kim is I can see a test of a nuclear weapon on the border or further south in Seoul. This would be a disaster of epic proporations and America lives would be lost in the thousands.
Wait , whhhhhatttttttt????! Wasn't it just recently that the us said there is no way they
Are close. Makes you wonder about what we know about Iran too
North Korea's possession & number of nuclear weapons that actually more than 300+
if you believe that they have only 10+ ???
you are being very naive. idiot.
"a few dozen" LMAO
North Korea's possession & number of nuclear weapons that actually more than 300+
if you believe that they have only 10+ ???
you are being very naive. idiot.
"Once you get beyond a dozen, it makes sense to test type and reliability of your weapons."
Sounds like mirror-imaging bias. Something that's logical to us may not be logical to them.
I think we need to connect the dots here , stop and think for a moment earlier and I mean last month and I do not remember who said this they were a member of congress said " obama" will be our president and nobody understood what she said and she would not say anymore about it so lets see how would he stay in office as our commander and cheif only one reason comes to my mind with out a re-election and that is if we are in a war that is unless they have changed that rule and did not tell anyone or I was asleep when that happened so it gives you something to think about. I did not vote for obama and I would not vote for him if he runs again and we all know he will if we are not in a war but here is the thing he did not put this country in the financial bind we are in it was all the idiots before obama he was the poor sap that got elected and I do not think he knew how bad it really was until he got elected and took over my opinion is we need to revamp our goverment and make them accountable for their actions "spending" I mean we as americans get into trouble if we over spend and we answer to our debtors, the law if its credit card fraud and lets face it our goverment is no different our social security has been dipped into for so long there will not be any left by the time our kids get to retire if in fact the world is still here then. you know we blame the goverment but we the people have the power to have these people removed from office but we never let our voices be heard we do nothing to impeach them we set back and take it up the ass like true idiots that we are . We need to stand tall , we need to stand together and reclaim our country and demand change and fight until we get it.Our country is no longer our country anymore china and japan own more of the united states than we do our own goverment owes its country 9 trillion dollars and we still have a 4 to 5 trillion dollar dept I mean when is it going to stop when are we going to put a stop to the wreckless spending the goverment does I mean how much is enough welcome to the great melting pot people land of the homeless, the starving , the unemployed and the screwed over people ... no more land of the free and it does not take a rocket scientist to figure that one out our goverment has to much control on us we are taxed to death over worked and under paid we cant afford to pay our bills or send our kids to college and ask yourself how many people do you know in these current situations , I bet anyone reading this post knows someone going through one of these or all of these ... we need to wake up and take back what is rightfully ours America...
dafuq did I just read?
This kind of terroristic belligerency on the part of any government in our world cannot and must not be tolerated by the international community. It is mandatory that these kinds of terroristic threats lead to the most severe international economic sanctions possible !!! I am UTTERLY dismayed by the failure of the international community to call North Korea to task for these latest terroristic threats. I don't care how many times North Korea has said offensive things like this in the past. They are a nuclear armed nation now, and it is the obligation of the international community to take absolutely seriously and to jointly punish North Korea for these state sponsored terroristic threats, otherwise this leaves South Korea almost completely on their own, and eventually South Korea will have no other choice but to preempt these terroristic threats with decisive military action. - RC
So what!? What is the United States going to do about it?? NOTHING!
North Korea is only trying to impress the world that they have become a Nuclear Power in defiance of what the world thinks! North Korea has no economy and no jobs for its people, so they turn the youth of the country into soldiers to give them something to do. North Korea behaves like they are still living in the late forties and early fifties. They are jealous of the South because they have become such a prosperous country while the North has not because of the poor leadership that country has had over the last fifty years.
Hey North Korea..do us a favor and drop a couple nukes on Pakistan.. armed.
Shhhhh, quiet... Did you all hear that? No seriously you really didn't hear that? That's the fleeting moment in time as your life slowly slips from your grasp, were you no longer have control of your body. Your soul if you believe in that crap, your soul delves into none existence and you become no more. That's the last thing you will all experience if you don't wake the eff up and realize there is nothing left on this planet other than "WARFARE". Never again will it stop. Ever is the quest for total control, total power, total authority. They will stop at nothing to achieve it. You will not win if you go "AGAINST" it. The only chance of survival is total destruction and that's not really survival at all is it. So ask yourself this ( If your parents die and leave you a business to run say a small dairy in the heartlands of america. And you inherit all the debt all the employees all the day to day expenses and you immediately find out you have a competitor whose been trying to take you out of business for a long time and you decide to come up with a new product to scare the competition and keep them on their toes into thinking your someone not to be messed with. You are after all defending your family's name. Are you to be blamed for pissing people off when you weren't the one who started this in the first place but had the courage to come in and step up for family pride) I dunno but just maybe there is a lesson to learn here Children.
Hope Baby Huey (kim jungpoop) is standing real close when it goes off.
Goo goo, ga ga, who had that?
promise them more food!!!
that has to work
NK is a real problem. What are the real options here? Keep providing food aid everytime they rattle the cage or launch a pre-emptive strike and risk killing millions. If anybody has an intelligent alternative let's here it.
Oh this ought to be good! Keeping an eye out for an eerie glow over Pyongyang tonight. I've heard their nuclear technicians studied at the same university as their rocket scientists. Oops!
The tunnel appears to be finished..now they only need to place the Nuke in... fill in the dirt and they are good to go. Surprised China doesn't rein in the North Korean government when it comes to Nukes. China provides FREE defense for North Korea why do they need Nukes?..The test is scheduled near the border with China. The last test created an earthquake over the border in China and the Chinese government wasn't happy about it.