This is really bad news. North Korea is claiming to have conducted their first ever nuclear test:
South Korean intelligence officials said the seismic wave had been detected in North Hamkyung province, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. It said the test was conducted at 10:36 a.m. (9:36 p.m. EDT Sunday) in Hwaderi near Kilju city on the northeast coast, citing defense officials.
While as yet officially unconfirmed, it looks like this is real. Here is a link to the United States Geological Survey website.
PoliPundit, Pajamas Media, and Michelle Malkin all have roundups of related news and links.
It looks like South Korea's stock market is already down and continuing to drop.
This cartoon makes all too clear a point:
My Take: If this is confirmed, this will put tremendous pressure on the new Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, to take Japan nuclear. Despite popular resistance against nuclear weapons amongst the Japanese, I could see this happening very quickly. South Korea may be next.
I believe this will create vastly increased tension and instability in the region. I also think this will also lead to greatly increased tension between Beijing and Washington. None of this looks like good news for any of the parties involved.
My Previous Posts on North Korea:
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