Post date: Feb 04, 2013 2:23:2 PM
REUTERS KOREA BUREAU CHIEF, DAVID CHANCE, ON TELEPHONE FROM SEOUL - We're on a watch in brief for when they explode this nuclear device. There's been speculation in the South Korean media that it could be today.
The immediate focus is when they carry out the nuclear test, what kind of nuclear test it is. Whether they use plutonium, as they used in the 2006, 2009 tests. Whether they have weapons grade uranium available. Whether in fact they stage multiple tests.They're very angry about the sanctions. They're presumably very angry that China agreed sanctions for the rocket launch in December. But they've been preparing this for a long time. Satellite images shown last year - and we reported on this - that there's continual work on the nuclear test site. So they've been getting ready for this eventuality. It tells us that anybody who was expecting any kind of meaningful engagement or rapprochement by new leader Kim Jong-un would be totally hopeful.
I think there are very few international sanctions that can be agreed internationally. Already the top leadership is sanctioned by name as an entity as are bodies like theKorean People's Army. So it's hard to see what they can target.
The North Korean official media have been scathing in very vivid terms about incumbent president Lee Myung-bak, who's term ends when Park Geun-hye takes office on February 25th.
It's very much too early to say if there will be a different dynamic in relationship when Lee Myung-bak's gone. A nuclear test on the eve of the accession of a South Korean president would not appear to bode so well for closer relations. Park has said if you abandon your nuclear ambitions then we can engage more, we can talk about aid. A nuclear test would appear to put paid to that.