Tweet
North Korea Air Samples Show No Radiation
WASHINGTON (Oct. 13) - Results from an initial air sampling after North Korea's announced nuclear test showed no evidence of radioactive particles that would be expected from a successful nuclear detonation, a U.S. government intelligence official said Friday.
The test results do not necessarily mean the North Korean blast was not a nuclear explosion, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the sampling results.
Nonetheless, the readings reinforce uncertainty about the size and success of Monday's underground explosion, which North Korea has trumpeted as a nuclear test. It also keeps alive lingering questions about whether it was in fact a nuclear blast. Data from seismic sensors have already indicated the explosion was smaller than expected.
The Chinese and Japanese governments have done their own air sampling and found no trace of radioactive material, officials from both countries said Friday. A Japanese government official said his country sampled air over the Sea of Japan, as well as rainfall and ground-level air on Japanese territory and found nothing.
The U.S. intelligence official described the U.S. results as the State Department announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to China, South Korea and Japan next week to discuss steps to pressure North Korea to drop its nuclear efforts and to assess the region's security situation.
Rice's trip is the next step in the U.S. diplomatic offensive at the United Nations and with Pyongyang's neighbors.
Members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Friday on wording of a resolution that would clamp sanctions on the communist country. The draft, scheduled for a Saturday vote, would authorize nonmilitary sanctions against the North, and says that any further action the council might want to take would require another U.N. resolution.
It also eliminates a blanket arms embargo from a tougher, previous draft, instead targeting specific equipment for sanctions including missiles, tanks, warships and combat aircraft.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that on Rice's trip, "she's going to be talking about the passage of that resolution certainly, but really what comes after."
AP
Rice's trip is meant to present a unified front to North Korea, which will be looking for any cracks in the diplomatic coalition behind the U.N. statement. Coming less than a month before midterm congressional elections, Rice's trip is also an opportunity for the Bush administration to highlight its work countering dangerous regimes and terror threats.
Beyond the threat to Asian neighbors and perhaps other nations posed by a nuclear North Korea, the Bush administration is worried that Pyongyang could sell its nuclear know-how to terrorists or other potential U.S. enemies, including Iran.
"Now is the time really to be very firm - to be calm, but firm - and to make clear to the North Koreans that no one is going to accept them as a nuclear weapons state, that we're not going to live with them as a nuclear weapons state, that they're going to have to get themselves out of this category and join in the world and choose another path," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Friday at the National Press Club.
At the White House, press secretary Tony Snow said the Bush administration's analysis of the North Korean explosion was continuing.
"They still think the analysis that they're doing will take another day or two," he said.
Analysts and government officials have said it may take weeks or longer to determine whether the North Korean explosion was nuclear.
"Sampling devices may simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the amounts of radioactive material may have been too small to detect because this may have been a failed test of a small nuclear device," Daryl Kimball, executive director of the private Arms Control Association, said in an interview Friday.
The air sample was taken Tuesday by a specialized aircraft, the WC-135, flying from Kadena air base in Okinawa, Japan. It apparently took the sample over the Sea of Japan, between the Korean mainland and Japan.
In Beijing, a government official said Friday that Chinese monitoring also has found no evidence of airborne radiation from the test-explosion. The official with the State Environmental Protection Administration said China has been monitoring air samples since Monday.
The U.S. intelligence official said an initial result from the U.S. air sample testing became available late this week. He said a final result would be available within days but the initial finding is considered conclusive.
It was not immediately clear whether the WC-135 took additional samples after the Tuesday effort.
The U.S., which has sought tough steps in the United Nations that could leave the door open to a blockade or other military action, has had to give ground to gain support from China and Russia. Those countries, along with South Korea, have been reluctant to abandon diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff.
On Wednesday, Bush indicated he saw little distinction between an actual nuclear test by North Korea and its announcement of one.
"The United States is working to confirm North Korea's claim, but this claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and stability," Bush said.
10/13/06 15:08 EDT
WASHINGTON (Oct. 13) - Results from an initial air sampling after North Korea's announced nuclear test showed no evidence of radioactive particles that would be expected from a successful nuclear detonation, a U.S. government intelligence official said Friday.
The test results do not necessarily mean the North Korean blast was not a nuclear explosion, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the sampling results.
Nonetheless, the readings reinforce uncertainty about the size and success of Monday's underground explosion, which North Korea has trumpeted as a nuclear test. It also keeps alive lingering questions about whether it was in fact a nuclear blast. Data from seismic sensors have already indicated the explosion was smaller than expected.
The Chinese and Japanese governments have done their own air sampling and found no trace of radioactive material, officials from both countries said Friday. A Japanese government official said his country sampled air over the Sea of Japan, as well as rainfall and ground-level air on Japanese territory and found nothing.
The U.S. intelligence official described the U.S. results as the State Department announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to China, South Korea and Japan next week to discuss steps to pressure North Korea to drop its nuclear efforts and to assess the region's security situation.
Rice's trip is the next step in the U.S. diplomatic offensive at the United Nations and with Pyongyang's neighbors.
Members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Friday on wording of a resolution that would clamp sanctions on the communist country. The draft, scheduled for a Saturday vote, would authorize nonmilitary sanctions against the North, and says that any further action the council might want to take would require another U.N. resolution.
It also eliminates a blanket arms embargo from a tougher, previous draft, instead targeting specific equipment for sanctions including missiles, tanks, warships and combat aircraft.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that on Rice's trip, "she's going to be talking about the passage of that resolution certainly, but really what comes after."
AP
Rice's trip is meant to present a unified front to North Korea, which will be looking for any cracks in the diplomatic coalition behind the U.N. statement. Coming less than a month before midterm congressional elections, Rice's trip is also an opportunity for the Bush administration to highlight its work countering dangerous regimes and terror threats.
Beyond the threat to Asian neighbors and perhaps other nations posed by a nuclear North Korea, the Bush administration is worried that Pyongyang could sell its nuclear know-how to terrorists or other potential U.S. enemies, including Iran.
"Now is the time really to be very firm - to be calm, but firm - and to make clear to the North Koreans that no one is going to accept them as a nuclear weapons state, that we're not going to live with them as a nuclear weapons state, that they're going to have to get themselves out of this category and join in the world and choose another path," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Friday at the National Press Club.
At the White House, press secretary Tony Snow said the Bush administration's analysis of the North Korean explosion was continuing.
"They still think the analysis that they're doing will take another day or two," he said.
Analysts and government officials have said it may take weeks or longer to determine whether the North Korean explosion was nuclear.
"Sampling devices may simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the amounts of radioactive material may have been too small to detect because this may have been a failed test of a small nuclear device," Daryl Kimball, executive director of the private Arms Control Association, said in an interview Friday.
The air sample was taken Tuesday by a specialized aircraft, the WC-135, flying from Kadena air base in Okinawa, Japan. It apparently took the sample over the Sea of Japan, between the Korean mainland and Japan.
In Beijing, a government official said Friday that Chinese monitoring also has found no evidence of airborne radiation from the test-explosion. The official with the State Environmental Protection Administration said China has been monitoring air samples since Monday.
The U.S. intelligence official said an initial result from the U.S. air sample testing became available late this week. He said a final result would be available within days but the initial finding is considered conclusive.
It was not immediately clear whether the WC-135 took additional samples after the Tuesday effort.
The U.S., which has sought tough steps in the United Nations that could leave the door open to a blockade or other military action, has had to give ground to gain support from China and Russia. Those countries, along with South Korea, have been reluctant to abandon diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff.
On Wednesday, Bush indicated he saw little distinction between an actual nuclear test by North Korea and its announcement of one.
"The United States is working to confirm North Korea's claim, but this claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and stability," Bush said.
10/13/06 15:08 EDT
Comment