Lembra da música “A Rosa de Hiroshima”? Torça para que não seja necessário compor uma música “A Rosa da Coréia”. Ao que tudo indica aquele tampinha alucinado vai testar sua bombinha nuclear neste final de semana. O mundo civilizado espera que ele esteja blefando. O que não seria de surpreender. Coisas de sua personalidade perturbada. Veja as reações aqui na CNN
TOKYO, Japan – Japan’s top government spokesman says Tokyo is stepping up monitoring of North Korea amid speculation that the communist nation could carry out a nuclear test as early as this weekend.
“In consideration of various possibilities, we are preparing for whatever may happen,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Friday, according to The Associated Press.
The speculation comes amid reports the United Nations Security Council members have reached a tentative agreement on a Japanese-drafted statement that warns North Korea of unspecified consequences if it conducts a nuclear test.
The text, obtained by the Reuters news service, is similar to the original, and was negotiated by junior diplomats of the 15 council members. It is being sent to governments for possible changes before further discussions on Friday.
The statement urges Pyongyang to cancel its planned nuclear test and return immediately to six-party talks aimed at persuading the reclusive Communist nation to abandon its nuclear arms program, according to Reuters.
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“Based on the development so far, it would be best to view that a test is possible this weekend,” Yachi told Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi.
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Media reports have speculated that a test could come as early as Sunday, the anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s appointment as head of the Korean Workers’ Party in 1997.
Shiozaki declined to confirm the reports but said Japan was capable of detecting radiation in case of a test and was making sure its equipment is functioning properly, AP reports.
He did not disclose details of Japan’s preparedness.
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Japan has two intelligence-gathering satellites and launched a third in September that can monitor the North’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.
Defense Agency officials also said Japan had boosted its intelligence gathering efforts.
On Thursday, a U.S. military plane capable of detecting radiation took off from Okinawa in southern Japan, thought to be a monitoring exercise in case North Korea carries out a test, according to media reports. U.S. military officials in Japan refused to confirm the report.
Earlier this week, the U.S. envoy to stalled North Korea nuclear talks said the United States would not tolerate a nuclear North Korea and warned Pyongyang not to test a nuclear weapon.
“We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea,” Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill told the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday. “We are not going to accept it.”
North Korea “can have a future, or it can have these weapons. It cannot have both,” Hill said. The U.S. and its allies “are in a very tense time” in dealing with Pyongyang, Hill added.
South Korea, meanwhile, warned North Korea’s stance could trigger a regional atomic arms race that could upend the balance of power in Northeast Asia.
Any display of Pyongyang’s nuclear force could prompt Japan to go nuclear and trigger a regional arms race, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.
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“This will prompt countermoves by China or Russia and lead to a change in the balance of power in Northeast Asia,” AP reports Yu saying.
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“We will do all we can to dissuade the DPRK [North Korea] from this test,” Hill said.
He declined to say exactly what the United States would do if North Korea undertakes such a test, but said, “we would have no choice but to act resolutely to make sure that the DPRK understood — and to make sure that any other country understands — that this (nuclear test) is a very bad mistake.”
If North Korea does conduct a test, it “will realize that they had a bad day when they made that choice,” he said.
After his appearance, Hill told reporters, “if they think that firing off a weapon will somehow make them a part of some sort of nuclear club, they should think again.”
“If they think that by exploding a weapon, that somehow we will come to terms with it, we won’t,” he said.
Citing U.S. belligerence and pressure, North Korea said Tuesday that a nuclear test was in the works. (Pyongyang’s statement)
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The ministry added, “The U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel the DPRK to conduct a nuclear test … as a corresponding measure for defense.”
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Coming on the heels of North Korea’s test firing of seven missiles, including a long-range ballistic missile in July, a nuclear test would bring Pyongyang’s relations with its neighbors to a new low, the report found.
The tests might prompt not only Japan, but also Taiwan and possibly South Korea to begin their own nuclear weapons programs, the report found.
Six-party talks on the country’s nuclear program have been stalled for months. In addition to the United States and North Korea, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea are taking part.
North Korea wants bilateral talks with the United States before the six-party talks resume and it wants Washington to ease up on economic pressures.
Hill repeated that the United States was willing to meet with North Korean officials, but only within the context of six-party talks.
