Posted on 10/04/2006 7:58:47 PM PDT by blam
US spy satellites detect N Korea's nuclear moves
By Colin Joyce in Tokyo and Richard Spencer in Beijing
(Filed: 05/10/2006)
The United States has detected activity in North Korea indicating possible preparations for an underground nuclear test.
Spy satellites have picked up unusual movement of vehicles at potential test sites, although an American official said it did prove that a test was imminent.
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe: the North Korean issue is expected to dominate his visits to China and South Korea
The images were seen the day after North Korea said it would conduct its first test, a prospect which Russia, South Korea and Japan yesterday described as "unacceptable".
The issue is expected to dominate a trip by Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to China and South Korea to mend deeply damaged relations.
Mr Abe will meet the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, on Sunday and South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun the following day.
The countries refused to meet Japan's previous leader, Junichiro Koizumi, because of his visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which many say glorifies Japanese aggression in the Second World War.
The Beijing visit, the first by a Japanese prime minister since 2001, had been predicted but China refused to confirm it until yesterday. It has set a tough but simple test for Mr Abe, saying that good relations depended on visits to the shrine being stopped.
Mr Abe has declined to say whether he will visit Yasukuni as prime minister, though he has done so in the past. The summit announcement indicates that some agreement has been reached.
There has been speculation in China that Mr Abe will continue to visit the shrine but in secret. The flamboyant way in which Mr Koizumi paid his respects, often dressed in full Shinto regalia, caused particular offence in Beijing.
The summits became more urgent after North Korea's announcement about its test.
The Japanese are increasingly concerned by the perceived threat from the isolated Stalinist nation.
Mr Abe said yesterday that Japan "simply could not accept" a North Korean nuclear test and Japan has already imposed sanctions on Pyongyang. But analysts believe that Mr Abe will face a tough task in convincing Beijing and Seoul to take a stronger line.
Both countries have adopted a conciliatory approach, though Seoul said a test could cause a "shift" in its policy of engagement.
China balanced its call for North Korea to show restraint with warnings that "all relevant parties", meaning America, should "address their concerns through dialogues and consultations instead of taking actions that may intensify the situation".
China's ambassador to the United Nations said it was opposed to action by the UN Security Council against North Korea and said the issue should be discussed in the long-running "six-party talks" between the two Koreas, America, China, Russia and Japan. North Korea has refused to join those talks for a year in protest at American sanctions.
It is not clear whether North Korea has the ability to carry through its test in the near future, though analysts say that the statement suggests that a political decision has been taken and that America's freezing of North Korean bank accounts has strengthened the hand of hard-liners.
But many sense that an end-game is approaching, either to allow Pyongyang to become a nuclear power or to see an escalation of military tensions. Pak Myong-guk, a North Korean diplomat in Australia, said: "The situation around the Korean peninsula is very tense. It may be breaking out [into] a war at any time." Yu Myung-hwan, the South Korean vice-foreign minister, said a test could prompt Japan to develop its own nuclear weapons.
Some members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have supported this option, once considered unthinkable for Japan.
If they have not yet. The US should hook them up.
Agreed, JJ.
Abe should announce placing the nukes right away. This will put pressure on China and Korea. Also announce the anti-ICBM shield.
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| This is probably the most important news in a couple of weeks but you wouldn't know it with the Speaker-witch hunt going on in the media right now. |
Actually if NK goes nuclear, Japan will go nuclear; and SK will immediately start reunification talks with NK to resist the Japanese.
Then Taiwan will go nuclear...at least secretly.
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