DPRK Nuclear Test 2013

STATEMENT BY CTBTO EXECUTIVE SECRETARY TIBOR TÓTH ON THE SEISMIC EVENT DETECTED IN NORTH KOREA AS A RESPONSE TO MEDIA QUESTIONS

Vienna, 12 February 2013

“Today our monitoring stations picked up evidence of an unusual seismic event in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The event shows explosion-like characteristics and its location is roughly congruent with the 2006 and 2009 DPRK nuclear tests. For now, further data and analysis are necessary to establish what kind of event this is. If confirmed as a nuclear test, this act would constitute a clear threat to international peace and security, and challenges efforts made to strengthen global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, in particular by ending nuclear testing.”

Background:

A total of 183 States, the vast majority of the international community, have signed the CTBT, underscoring their support for a definitive ban on nuclear explosions. Of these, 159 countries have also ratified the Treaty. To enter into force, however, the CTBT must be signed and ratified by 44 specific States. These States participated in the negotiations of the Treaty in 1996 and possessed nuclear power or research reactors at the time. Thirty-six of these States have ratified the Treaty, including the three nuclear weapon States - France, Russia and the United Kingdom. Of the eight remaining States, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United Stateshave signed the Treaty, whereas the DPRK, India andPakistan have not yet signed it.

A verification regime is being built to monitor compliance with the Treaty. Over 85 percent of the 337 facilities in the International Monitoring System are already in place, see interactive map. The Member States are provided with data collected by the monitoring stations, as well as data analyses prepared by the International Data Centre in Vienna, Austria. Once the Treaty has entered into force, an on-site inspection can be invoked in case of a suspicious event.

The North Korean nuclear tests on 9 October 2006 and 25 May 2009 were detected immediately by the CTBTO’s monitoring stations.

For further information on the CTBT, please seewww.ctbto.org – your resource on ending nuclear testing,
or contact:

Annika Thunborg,
Spokesperson and Chief, Public Information

T    +43 1 26030-6375
E    annika.thunborg@ctbto.org
M    +43 699 1459 6375    
I    www.ctbto.org

North Korea Dreams Its Future

This is so weird it's scary.
[From Live Leak]



North Korea, which is poised to conduct a nuclear test any day now, has posted a video depicting a US city resembling New York engulfed in flames after an apparent missile attack.

The footage was uploaded on Saturday by the North's official website, Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the state media.

The video is shot as a dream sequence, with a young man seeing himself on board a North Korean space shuttle launched into orbit by the same type of rocket Pyongyang successfully tested in December.

As the shuttle circles the globe - to the tune of We Are The World - the video zooms in on countries below, including a joyfully re-unified Korea.

In contrast, the focus then switches to a city - shrouded in the US flag - under apparent missile attack with its skyscrapers, including what appears to be the Empire State Building, either on fire or in ruins.

"Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing," runs the caption across the screen.

"It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself," it added.

The video ends with the young man concluding that his dream will "surely come true".

"Despite all kinds of attempts by imperialists to isolate and crush us... never will anyone be able to stop the people marching toward a final victory," it said.

The North is expected to conduct its nuclear test as a defiant response to UN sanctions imposed after its December rocket launch.

Comments of General Liang Guanglie, Minister of National Defense, China

The 10th IISS Asia Security Summit

The Shangri-La Dialogue

Singapore 

Sunday 05 June 2011

Fourth Plenary Session 

China’s International Security Cooperation

Q&A

General Liang Guanglie  

Minister of National Defense, China

Dr Dana Allin, Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy and Transatlantic Affairs; Editor of Survival, IISS

General, thank you for your remarks.  You spoke eloquently about some general principles, among them inclusive security, and that no alliances should be directed against [a] third country.  However, like some others in this hall, I would like to ask you about a more specific problem.  As the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continues to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, is it not understandable and indeed inevitable that threatened countries such as Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are going to seek an ever-closer military alliance with the United States?

General Liang Guanglie [As translated from Chinese: Since North Korea performed nuclear tests several years ago, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has become the concern of all parties, especially the international society, in recent years. It is sometimes under tension, and the tension is alleviated at other times. From the end of last year to the start of this year, especially, it was almost on the verge of breaking out in a war. 

As a neighbour to the Korean Peninsula, we surely attach great importance to this problem. The Chinese side, or the government of China, is making joint efforts with the international society, including Russia, America, Japan, South Korea, and others. For this purpose, the mechanism of the Six-Party Talks was established, and the United Nations has also created related resolutions, which I will not further discuss here. China has signed the resolution documents of the UN, and it is quite clear that we oppose the tension on the Korean Peninsula as well as the development of nuclear weapons by North Korea. With the joint efforts of all parties involved, the tension on the Korean Peninsula is somewhat alleviated now, but relations are still quite weak.

Yesterday, I discussed this problem with Mr Toshima Kitazawa, the Defence Minister of Japan, and Mr Kim Kwan Jin, the Defence Minister of South Korea. All of us are highly concerned about the military developments in this region, and we hope the weak situation will not last much longer. All parties involved should properly solve the problem through active efforts and negotiations, avoiding producing man-made tension.

We will try our best to communicate with South Korea and Japan, as well as North Korea. I can be very frank with you that what we have done in communications with North Korea is much more than you imagine, including the work of our representatives to the Six-Party Talks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the leaders of our country. We have been advising North Korea, via different channels, not to take the risk.

Of course, South Korea and Japan are also actively negotiating with us and communication with each is ongoing. It is the joint effort of all parties that helps to alleviate the tension in this region. Therefore, I hope all parties involved can keep calm and exercise restraint, doing more work that is beneficial for the stability on the peninsula and not going to arms. What we do should not lead to the increase of tension in this region, but help to alleviate the tension and promote stability on the peninsula. Thank you.]