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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Pakistani Tells of North Korean Nuclear Devices |
| 2004-04-13 |
| Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who sold nuclear technology around the world, has told his interrogators that during a trip to North Korea five years ago he was taken to a secret underground nuclear plant and shown what he described as three nuclear devices, according to Asian and American officials who have been briefed by the Pakistanis. 5 years ago? Sounds fishy If Dr. Khan’s report is true, it would be the first time that any foreigner has reported inspecting an actual North Korean nuclear weapon. Past C.I.A. assessments of North Korea’s nuclear capacity have been based on estimates of how much plutonium it could produce and assessments of its technical capability to turn that plutonium into weapons. Dr. Khan, known as the father of the Pakistani bomb, said he was allowed to inspect the weapons briefly, according to the account that Pakistan has begun to provide in classified briefings to nations within reach of North Korea’s missiles. American intelligence officials caution that they cannot say whether Dr. Khan had the time, expertise or equipment to verify the claims. But they note that the number of plutonium weapons roughly accords with previous C.I.A. estimates that North Korea had one or two weapons and the ability to produce more... |
| Posted by:Lux |
| #8 But if the NORKs have a "big gun" deliverable nuclear weapon--isn't the distance involved to Seoul relatively short? How far did the German guns of WWI launch a projectile? |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2004-04-13 10:45:09 PM |
| #7 Just a thought. Jimmy Carter and Madeline Albright both go to North Korea and say that Kim Jung Il was such a nice guy and we could deter him from doing just this very thing? This was going on all this time? Carter should go back to building houses for poor people where he does some good, and keep his d*** nose out of international affairs where he is the lead incompetent bozo. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4052 2004-04-13 3:32:24 PM |
| #6 One question, have they test detonated any nuclear weapons? Didn't think so. If they had one, they would test one...whether it needed to be tested or not. Simply to show that they do have one. Zenster speaks wisdom. Let me point one other thing out - if you think aboout it, Dr Khan has a LOT of incentive to tell people that other people have nukes, and to imply that they will use them. Otherwise, is it possible that - gasp - he sold some folks a bill of goods?... Ship - 'tis indeed true that Little Boy was never test fired, mainly because the laws of physics had already shown them that they were going to get a yield. OTOH, a gun bomb is not at all well suited for a missile application. It is reliable - but way too big and too heavy for most missiles, and especially anything the Norks could bolt it onto. They could indeed build an aircraft delivered weapon - but given what they have in their inventory, getting it across the border would be questionable, and it would be dead meat even for the ROK's 40-y/o F-4s and F-5s. Where a gun weapon would be useful would be if they were going to sneak one in someplace, in which case we're talking about a whole 'nother kettle of fish... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-04-13 12:59:45 PM |
| #5 Maybe so, Shipman, but it's difficult to take North Korea seriously until they demonstrate actual possession of functional devices. "One question, have they test detonated any nuclear weapons? Didn't think so. If they had one, they would test one...whether it needed to be tested or not. Simply to show that they do have one." I think AHM's statement says it all. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-13 11:00:20 AM |
| #4 One question, have they test detonated any nuclear weapons? Didn't think so. If they had one, they would test one...whether it needed to be tested or not. Simply to show that they do have one. |
| Posted by: AllahHateMe 2004-04-13 10:38:27 AM |
| #3 If it were a Uranium gun bomb it wouldn't need to be tested. Little Boy was never tested. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-13 10:31:48 AM |
| #2 It's hard to give North Korea a lot of credibility. There has yet to be a single underground test that would confirm the validity of their device design. The instant they detonate one of their weapons, our seismic systems would pinpoint it. Khan is about as trustworthy as Saddam Hussein and his black market prestige is only bolstered by making these claims. Due to this dire conflict of interest, it would be really nice to have independent verification. North Korea needs to be starved out. Not a single penny of foreign aid from anyone until they dismantle their nuclear weapons program and surrender all inventories of fissile material. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-13 9:55:42 AM |
| #1 Not surprising, a nuclear device is anything that can go boom. A deliverable weapon is another thing, these may have been a prototype bomb for testing. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-04-13 8:42:17 AM |