Interesting:

North Korea and the United States have agreed to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear issue “as soon as possible,” it was announced here on Wednesday.

The breakthrough came during talks brokered by China. Top negotiators of the three countries held several rounds of bilateral and trilateral talks in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday, exchanging views “frankly and in an in-depth way”, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

North Korea and the United States agreed to resume the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue as soon as possible, the ministry said without giving a firm date.

It’s pretty much your standard DPRK propaganda but still interesting:

Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, sent a message of greetings to Bashar Al-Assad, president of Syria, Wednesday on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the corrective movement in Syria. The message said that the Korean people are pleased with the fact that the friendly Syrian government and people have successfully carried forward the cause of Hafez Al-Assad, the leader of advance. It sincerely wished the president and people of Syria greater success in their efforts to smash the outside pressure and challenge and protect the sovereignty and security of the country and regional peace and achieve fresh progress and prosperity.

THE PRESIDENT: “Last night the government of North Korea proclaimed to the world that it had conducted a nuclear test. We’re working to confirm North Korea’s claim. Nonetheless, such a claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The United States condemns this provocative act. Once again North Korea has defied the will of the international community, and the international community will respond.

“This was confirmed this morning in conversations I had with leaders of China, and South Korea, Russia, and Japan. We reaffirmed our commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, and all of us agreed that the proclaimed actions taken by North Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate response by the United Nations Security Council.

“The North Korean regime remains one of the world’s leading proliferator of missile technology, including transfers to Iran and Syria. The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold North Korea fully accountable of the consequences of such action.

“The United States remains committed to diplomacy, and we will continue to protect ourselves and our interests. I reaffirmed to our allies in the region, including South Korea and Japan, that the United States will meet the full range of our deterrent and security commitments.

“Threats will not lead to a brighter future for the North Korean people, nor weaken the resolve of the United States and our allies to achieve the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Today’s claim by North Korea serves only to raise tensions, while depriving the North Korean people of the increased prosperity and better relations with the world offered by the implementation of the joint statement of the six-party talks. The oppressed and impoverished people of North Korea deserve that brighter future.”

Via CNN:

North Korea on Monday claimed it has performed a successful nuclear test, according to that country’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

South Korean government officials also said North Korea performed its first nuclear test, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported.

The apparent nuclear test was conducted at 10:36 a.m. (0136 GMT) in Hwaderi near Kilju city, Yonhap reported, citing defense officials.

“The field of scientific research in the DPRK (North Korea’s official name) successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions on October 9 … at a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation,” KCNA reported.

Late Sunday in Washington, the U.S. military told CNN it believed the report to be true, but was working to fully confirm it.

Senior U.S. officials said they also believed the test took place.

MSNBC has the KCNA announcment:

“The field of scientific research in the DPRK successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions on October 9, 2006, at a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great, prosperous, powerful socialist nation.

“It has been confirmed that there was no such danger as radioactive emission in the course of the nuclear test as it was carried out under scientific consideration and careful calculation.

“The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent. It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability.

“It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it.”

The South Koreans are scrambling:

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun called up an emergency security meeting just before the North’s announcement.

The South Korean intelligence had reported to the president that 3.58 magnitude seismic tremor was detected from Hwadaeri near Gilju at 10:36 a,m.

I’m bracing for a completely underwhelming response on our part. With events like this, Iran’s behavior, and the situation in Iraq it’s difficult to see our position as anything but weakening. It will be interesting to see what happens in South Korea, Taiwan, and especially Japan. Further militarization of our allies in the region seems inevitable but that will seriously threaten China. To call this act destabilizing is an understatement.

Update

Reviewing the Chronicle’s report it appears that Donald Rumsfeld and I are in agreement:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday that a successful North Korean nuclear weapon test would show weakness on the part of the international community.

“And that failure … is something that the international community would have to register and ask itself how comfortable are we being that ineffective in this situation,” Rumsfeld said.

However, the real problem for us (if we fail to act decisively) is that the bad guys will read this as primarily American weakness.

The International Herald Tribune looks at possible next steps:

LONG-TERM: Other Asian nations, including Japan or South Korea, may seek their own atomic weapons as a safeguard against a nuclear-armed North Korea, possibly triggering a wider arms race that threatens regional stability.

Additional economic sanctions against North Korea may further weaken an already poor and isolated nation.

The risk of nuclear proliferation increases with an impoverished North Korea possible selling nuclear technology to terrorists or other countries.

North Korean Media
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)

South Korean Media
The Korea Herald
Korea.net
Yonhap News
The Chosun Ilbo

More of the same via KCNA:

Israel’s recent military aggression is a replica of U.S. horrendous state-sponsored terrorism perpetrated under the pretext of a “war on terrorism.” The barbaric military aggression perpetrated by Israel against Palestine and Lebanon created such a serious situation that a new Mid-east war may break out. The responsibility for this entirely rests with the U.S.

The U.S. seeks to shift the blame for it on to Syria, deliberately linking the current Mid-east situation to the country. This is aimed to brand anti-imperialist and independent Syria as a “criminal” and stifle it.

Quite just are the stand of Syria and its efforts to render positive support and encouragement to Palestine and Lebanon in their resistance against Israel’s military aggression and achieve Mideast peace.

The Korean people extend firm solidarity to Syria and bitterly condemn Israel for having perpetrated armed aggression against Palestine and Lebanon under the U.S. patronage and backing.

Tough talk in Japan:

Japan said Monday it was considering whether a pre-emptive strike on the North’s missile bases would violate its constitution, signaling a hardening stance ahead of a possible U.N. Security Council vote on Tokyo’s proposal for sanctions against the regime.

Japan was badly rattled by North Korea’s missile tests last week and several government officials openly discussed whether the country ought to take steps to better defend itself, including setting up the legal framework to allow Tokyo to launch a pre-emptive strike against Northern missile sites.

“If we accept that there is no other option to prevent an attack … there is the view that attacking the launch base of the guided missiles is within the constitutional right of self-defense. We need to deepen discussion,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said.

As cool as this sounds I believe the Japanese may be talking tough to give us some leverage in our negotiations with China. A reinvigorated Japanese military would scare the bejesus out of everyone in the region. There’s also the question of whether Japan is even capable of carrying out such a strike:

Japanese fighter jets and pilots are not capable of carrying out such an attack, a military analyst said.

“Japan’s air force is top class in defending the nation’s airspace, but attacking another country is almost impossible,” said analyst Kazuhisa Ogawa.

“Even if Japan’s planes made it to North Korea, they wouldn’t make it back … it would be an act of suicide,” he said. “Japan has no capacity to wage war.”

Also Blogging:
Captain Ed
Pajamas Media
Hot Air
Morning Coffee
Red Hot Cuppa Politics
Ace of Spades HQ
Glenn Reynolds
Roger L. Simon
Joe’s Dartblog
Dean Esmay
The Pink Flamingo Bar & Grill

Michael Goodwin’s take on the current state of the War on Terror is a must read:

Last week’s headlines prove the point: North Korea fires missiles, Iran talks of nukes again, Iraq carnage continues, Israel invades Gaza, England observes one-year anniversary of subway bombing. And, oh, yes, the feds stop a plot to blow up tunnels under the Hudson River.

World War III has begun.

It’s not perfectly clear when it started. Perhaps it was after the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended. Perhaps it was the first bombing of the World Trade Center, in 1993.

What is clear is that this war has a long fuse and, while we are not in the full-scale combat phase that marked World Wars I and II, we seem to be heading there. The expanding hostilities mean it’s time to give this conflict a name, one that focuses the mind and clarifies the big picture.

The war on terror, or the war of terror, has tentacles that reach much of the globe. It is a world war.

While that’s not exactly news to people who follow the war closely this realization does seem to be gaining some ground. I’m not sure how long this uneasy holding pattern will last but I do believe than a significant expansion of hostilities, a full world war, is probably inevitable. Any number of events, in hot spots around the globe, could take us there virtually overnight. It’s still 1939 all over again.

Via KCNA:

A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to a question raised by KCNA Thursday as regards the missile launches in the DPRK: In the wake of the missile launches by the Korean People’s Army the U.S. and some other countries following it, including Japan, are making much ado about a serious development. They are terming them “violation” and “provocation” and calling for “sanctions” and “their referral to the UN Security Council.”

The latest successful missile launches were part of the routine military exercises staged by the KPA to increase the nation’s military capacity for self-defence. The DPRK’s exercise of its legitimate right as a sovereign state is neither bound to any international law nor to bilateral or multilateral agreements such as the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration and the joint statement of the six-party talks.

The DPRK is not a signatory to the Missile Technology Control Regime and, therefore, is not bound to any commitment under it. As for the moratorium on long-range missile test-fire which the DPRK agreed with the U.S. in 1999, it was valid only when the DPRK-U.S. dialogue was under way. The Bush administration, however, scrapped all the agreements its preceding administration concluded with the DPRK and totally scuttled the bilateral dialogue. The DPRK had already clarified in March 2005 that its moratorium on the missile test-fire lost its validity.

The same can be said of the moratorium on the long-range missile test-fire which the DPRK agreed with Japan in the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration in 2002. In the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration the DPRK expressed its “intention to extend beyond 2003 the moratorium on the missile fire in the spirit of the declaration.” This step was taken on the premise that Japan moved to normalize its relations with the DPRK and redeem its past. The Japanese authorities, however, have abused the DPRK’s good faith. They have not honored their commitment but internationalized the “abduction issue,” pursuant to the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK, although the DPRK had fully settled the issue. This behavior has brought the overall DPRK-Japan relations to what was before the publication of the declaration.

It is a manifestation of the DPRK’s broad magnanimity that it has put on hold the missile launch so far under this situation. The joint statement of the six-party talks on September 19, 2005 stipulates the commitments to be fulfilled by the six sides to the talks to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. But no sooner had the joint statement been adopted than the U.S. applied financial sanctions against the DPRK and escalated pressure upon it in various fields through them. The U.S., at the same time, has totally hamstrung the efforts for the implementation of the joint statement through such threat and blackmail as large-scale military exercises targeted against the DPRK. It is clear to everyone that there is no need for the DPRK to unilaterally put on hold the missile launch under such situation. Such being a stark fact, it is a far-fetched assertion grossly falsifying the reality for them to claim that the routine missile launches conducted by the KPA for self-defence strain the regional situation and block the progress of the dialogue.

It is a lesson taught by history and a stark reality of the international relations proven by the Iraqi crisis that the upsetting of the balance of force is bound to create instability and crisis and spark even a war. But for the DPRK’s tremendous deterrent for self-defence, the U.S. would have attacked the DPRK more than once as it had listed the former as part of an “axis of evil” and a “target of preemptive nuclear attack” and peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the region would have been seriously disturbed. The DPRK’s missile development, test-fire, manufacture and deployment, therefore, serve as a key to keeping the balance of force and preserving peace and stability in Northeast Asia. It is also preposterous for them to term the latest missile launches a “provocation” and the like for the mere reason that the DPRK did not send prior notice about them.

It would be quite foolish to notify Washington and Tokyo of the missile launches in advance, given that the U.S., which is technically at war with the DPRK, has threatened it since a month ago that it would intercept the latter’s missile in collusion with Japan. We would like to ask the U.S. and Japan if they had ever notified the DPRK of their ceaseless missile launches in the areas close to it. The DPRK remains unchanged in its will to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in a negotiated peaceful manner just as it committed itself in the September 19 joint statement of the six-party talks. The latest missile launch exercises are quite irrelevant to the six-party talks.

The KPA will go on with missile launch exercises as part of its efforts to bolster deterrent for self-defence in the future, too. The DPRK will have no option but to take stronger physical actions of other forms, should any other country dares take issue with the exercises and put pressure upon it.

And still we do essentially nothing:

But data from U.S. and Japanese Aegis radar-equipped destroyers and surveillance aircraft on the missile’s angle of take-off and altitude indicated that it was heading for waters near Hawaii, the Sankei Shimbun reported, citing multiple sources in the United States and Japan.

North Korea may have targeted Hawaii to show the United States that it was capable of landing a missile there, or because it is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific fleet, the paper said.

Another Taepodong-2 launch may be in the works:

North Korea is showing signs that it might be preparing for the launch of a second Taepodong-2 missile, several government sources said Thursday.

Both Japanese and U.S. spy satellites have spotted on several occasions a ballistic missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2, at a site near a launch facility in Musudanri, northeastern North Korea, according to the sources.

War is not breaking out but this Chosun Ilbo article is interesting:

South Korean and Japanese vessels faced off near the Dokdo islets early Wednesday morning even as North Korea was busy firing missiles into the East Sea.

The North’s short- and mid-range missile launches continued for nearly four hours starting at 3:32 a.m. According to government officials, all dropped into the sea on the near side of the Japanese archipelago.

In the midst of all this, the South Korean research vessel Haeyang 2000 pushed on into waters surrounding Dokdo, where it was met by a warning radio call from a Japanese patrol boat to stop. The Haeyang responded it was conducting an oceanic survey of Korean territorial waters and warned the Japanese boat not to interfere. The Japanese did not attempt to seize the vessel as it was escorted by a Korean Coast Guard ship.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing “extreme displeasure” at the survey. Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi called in Korean Ambassador to Japan Ra Jong-yil to protest.

The Japanese government says it will launch its own “counter-survey”, though no timeframe was mentioned. South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho said Japan needs Seoul’s consent for any marine research in Korea’s exclusive economic zone. The EEZ of the two countries overlap in waters near Dokdo, and Japan persists in territorial claims to the Korean islets.

Meanwhile, the North’s missile launches have increased the chances that a U.S. Aegis destroyer will be dispatched into the East Sea. In additions to growing tensions between Japan and Korea, that is quickly making the East Sea the world’s hottest body of water.

Wikipedia has a very detailed entry on this old Korean-Japanese dispute.