According to the BBC, 9 October 2006:
North Korea has claimed to have successfully tested a nuclear device. BBC News looks at the crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and the likely ramifications.
Why does this issue matter so much?
The nuclear test follows four years of mounting tension between North Korea and the US, in what is possibly the most serious threat to East Asia's short and long-term security.
If a nuclear test is confirmed, it will cement North Korea's place as a nuclear power, effectively ending hopes of resolving the stand-off through stalled six-nation talks. It would also greatly increase the risk of an East Asian arms race, as countries like Japan a South Korea weighed up whether to go nuclear as well.

North Korea tests may prompt a united response
BY RON SYLVESTER
David Lambertson of the University of Kansas sees a potentially positive aftermath in North Korea's nuclear tests.
An expert in nuclear policies with North Korea and a former diplomat, Lambertson said Monday that the explosions could have the effect of pulling together nations opposing North Korea.
South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States haven't been of the same mind on how to deal with North Korea, Lambertson said.
"If those nations can get to where they are more on the same page, that might lead to results," Lambertson said.
From 2000 to 2005, Lambertson helped implement North Korea's nuclear program agreements with the international community as a diplomat with the U.S. Foreign Service. He is now co-director for KU's Center for International Business Education and Research. Lambertson said the Cold War never really ended on the Korean peninsula, and the region has remained unstable for 50 years.

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