N. Korea yet to be seen as nuclear weapons state: S. Korea

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top defense official disputed the claim
made by North Korea on Monday that its "successful" second nuclear test helped
consolidate its standing as a nuclear weapons state.

North Korea said earlier in the day that it went ahead with an underground atomic
test, claiming the move helped resolve technical problems associated with the
expansion of its nuclear arsenal.
"North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests, but it is difficult for South Korea
and the United States to conclude from their intelligence that North Korea has
clearly improved in terms of its possession of nuclear weapons," South Korean
Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said in a parliamentary hearing.
North Korea, which detonated a nuclear device for the first time in October 2006,
"still will not be recognized as a nuclear state," Lee said.
"But we have to maintain our combat readiness under the assumption that North
Korea may obtain nuclear arms," he said, stressing the importance of the U.S.
nuclear umbrella over his country.
South Korean and U.S. officials believe North Korea has enough plutonium to make
about six nuclear bombs, but the communist state has yet to be acknowledged
formally as a nuclear state.
The 2006 blast produced a force of less than 1 kiloton, South Korean officials
say, suggesting the test failed. A successful nuclear test yields five to 15
kilotons.
The latest detonation appears to have yielded up to 20 kilotons, according to
Russia's state media.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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