Report: N. Korea tested nukes
Official news agency reports communist country has preformed its first-ever nuclear weapons test; US says it's looking into report as move expected to cause wages across region
North Korea said Monday it has performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test, which would confirm that the country has a working atomic bomb as it has long claimed.
The country's official Korean Central News Agency said the underground test was performed successfully "With indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent," and that no radioactive material leaked from that test site.
"It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the (Korean People's Army) and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability," KCNA said. "It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it."
In Washington, US government officials said a wide range of agencies were looking into the report of the nuclear test, which officials were taking seriously. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun convened a meeting of security advisers over the issue.
The North said last week it would conduct a test, sparking regional concern and frantic diplomatic efforts aimed at dissuading Pyongyang from such a move. North Korea has long claimed to have nuclear weapons, but had never before performed a known test to prove its arsenal.
The nuclear test was conducted at 10:36 A.M. (0136 GMT) in Hwaderi near Kilju city, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korean defense officials.
The North has refused for a year to attend international talks aimed at persuading it to disarm. The country pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003 after US officials accused it of a secret nuclear program, allegedly violating an earlier nuclear pact between Washington and Pyongyang.
Speculation over a possible North Korean test arose earlier this year after US and Japanese reports cited suspicious activity at a suspected underground test site.
The test came amid intense diplomatic efforts aimed at heading off the move.
Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, arrived Monday in Seoul for meetings with President Roh Moo-hyun to address the nuclear issue as well as address strains in relations between Japan and South Korea over territorial and historical disputes.
