Did North Korea Conduct Secret Nuclear Tests?

gbrumfiel writes "In May of 2010, North Korea made the bizarre claim that it had achieved nuclear fusion. Many, many commentators (including faithful Slashdot readers) mocked the dear leader for his outlandish boast, but could there have been a kernel of truth in the claim? Apparently some odd radioactivity was spotted by detectors surrounding the North just days after the announcement. Now, a new analysis by a Swedish scientist suggests that the radiation may have leaked from covert experiments into boosting fission warheads. The evidence is tentative at best, and many are skeptical, but it does seem that something odd was up on the Korean peninsula that spring."

Comments

what in north korea isn't 'odd'?

[Sir_Sri]

Given they already have a covert nuclear programme doing covert experiments isn't that much of a shock. But really, everything these guys do is odd to some degree, I mean, they have a leader who was born in any of 1982, 83 or 84 and no one seems quite clear as to which. Or why they would lie about it.

It's not even clear who these outlandish lies are for, which is what makes the whole thing odd. Even if it's just misdirection to confuse anyone trying to find out the truth that doesn't make it any less odd.

Seismic evidence?

[Bradmont]

Nuclear detonations create telltale signatures on seismometers, which makes it pretty much impossible to perform nuclear tests without being noticed by the international community. The article even admits this:

Others remain deeply sceptical that the tests took place at all. Most troubling is the lack of any seismic vibrations to support the radioisotope data, according to Ola Dahlman, a retired geophysicist who spent years working with the test-ban group's detection network. The Korean peninsula is wired to spot the tiniest shake from a nuclear explosion, Dahlman says. "It should have been able to see something."

Re:Easy fix.

[Bill, Shooter of Bul]

That made sense 20 years ago, but China being afraid of a unified Korea, is like the US being afraid of a unified Dutch Antillies.

Re:Easy fix.

[DigiShaman]

China doesn't want a unified Korea for several reasons.

1. China wants a pit bull keeping the US and allies from getting too close to its border.
2. The fall of N. Korea would mean potentially millions of refugees flooding into China.
3. China is no longer in the position to play in role of Good-Cop Bad-Cop. Geopolitically, it makes them look bad to not have a neighbor that's far worse.

The fall of the N. Korea regime wouldn't be the end of the world. I doubt China would put up too much of a stink about it. But if given the option, China would rather have N. Korea to stick around a bit longer.