North Korea conducts first atom bomb test

North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon Monday apparently in the vicinity Hwadaeri, near North Korea's northeast coast.

The move sparked concern around the world especially in South Korea and Japan. Even Pyongyang's closest ally, China, labeled the test as "brazen."


North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during an army inspection in an undated handout photo released August 30, 2006. Korea News Service/File/Reuters photo via Yahoo News.

"The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology, 100 percent," North Korea's official KCNA news agency announced.

South Korean intelligence officials told parliament the test appeared to be conducted in a horizontal tunnel in a mountain northwest of the Musudan missile base.

The US Geological Survey said it had detected a "shallow" earthquake of a magnitude of 4.2 degrees on the Richter scale in North Korea.

Japan's prime minister says China against N. Korea test

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters Sunday that China' President Hu Jintao agreed with Japan's position that North Korean nuclear tests are unacceptable and "cannot be tolerated."

Abe's visit to Beijing is the first by a Japanese prime minister in five years, but has been overshadowed by the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Some analysts thought that Pyongyang might conduct the tests on Sunday, the aniversary of the North Korean leader's ascent to leadership of the Korean Workers' Party.


North Korea celebrated leader Kim Jong-Il on the ninth anniversary of his rise to Korean Workers' Party chief, but was silent over the regime's threat to test a nuclear bomb. AFP/KCNA/File via Yahoo News.

North Korea announces nuke test

North Korea announced Tuesday it would test a nuclear weapon in the face of what it called "an extreme threat of nuclear war" from the United States.

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.