No precise date was given for the test, but the announcement provoked strong reaction around the world. Japan froze North Korean bank accounts, and South Korea raised its alert level and called for special security meetings.
The tests are not a complete surprise to defense analysts though as work on nuclear test sites has been going on for some time.
There is a fear that a North Korean nuclear test could provoke Japan to build its own weapons as a deterrent, and the incoming prime minister Shinzo Abe is thought by some to be hawkish on the possibility of a Japanese nuclear capability.
An October 28, 2005 photo released by China's Xinhua News Agnecy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. North Korea said Tuesday October 3, 2006, it will conduct a nuclear test counter U.S. hostility toward the regime. AP Photo/Xinhua, Yao Dawei, FILE via Yahoo News.
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