Is North Korea Planning An Above Ground Nuclear Test?
If North Korea was to conduct an above ground nuclear test it would be interesting to see what the Chinese reaction to it would be since they would be affected by the fallout:
A Japanese daily says North Korea could go ahead with a nuclear test in the atmosphere as its final means of a threat to hold direct talks with the United States.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said in a Thursday column that there are skeptical views of North Korea conducting an anachronistic atmospheric nuclear test. However, it noted the North’s past behavior such as the shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island, torpedoing of the South’s Cheonan vessel and infiltration of special forces into the South using a submarine.
The paper argued the North will find it necessary to bring forth something even more shocking to draw U.S. attention, and quoted expert opinions that the possibility of an atmospheric nuke test can no longer be excluded.
At atmospheric nuclear explosion causes radioactive fallout in all directions and poses a devastating impact on the environment.
No country in the world has conducted such a test since China in 1980. [KBS World Radio]
The paper argued the North will find it necessary to bring forth something even more shocking to draw U.S. attention, and quoted expert opinions that the possibility of an atmospheric nuke test can no longer be excluded.
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To draw U.S. attention to what? Our military presence in the ROK is due to NK. Our nuclear umbrella commitment to ROK and Japan is due to NK. Our push for harsher UN sanctions on NK is due to NK. Just how much more attention could NK possibly want from us?
As for an atmospheric test… It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to conduct an above-ground test, because — as GIKorea points out — the fallout has to go somewhere. In modern times, intentionally inflicting radioactive fallout on other nations could be seen as a terrorist act, or even an act of war.