October 8, 2006 [LINK / comment]

North Korea goes nuclear

North Korean announced it conducted an underground nuclear test a short while ago, declaring that this will enhance stability in the region. They blamed the U.S. government for making threats against it. The story ran over the AP news wires at 10:54 PM EDT (see Washington Post), and was just reported on the BBC World News. No details are available yet, and confirmation is pending, but it isn't a big surprise. North Korea's economy is crumbling, and the only way it can survive in the short term is by extorting more foreign aid from the Western world. China and Japan had issued sharp warnings to North Korea not to go ahead with the test, and the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton made it clear that there would be very serious repercussions. Now we'll find out what that means...