U.S. agencies confirm N. Korea nuke test
U.S. spy agencies confirmed North Korea's nuclear test on Monday, even as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared that U.N. sanctions prove the world is united in opposing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
Such strong opposition should be a warning to Iran, too, said Rice, who is leaving Tuesday morning for an Asian trip that is expected to be dominated by the nuclear issue. She will visit Japan,
South Korea, China and Russia.
Providing the government's first definitive confirmation that North Korea detonated a nuclear device one week ago, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte's office said in a statement that air samples collected on Wednesday showed evidence of radioactivity. That verified North Korea's claims.
"The explosion yield was less than a kiloton," the statement said, smaller than many experts had expected.
Each kiloton is equal to the force produced by 1,000 tons of TNT. An intelligence official said the North Korean device was believed to be roughly the equivalent of 200 tons of TNT, suggesting to analysts that it was probably a partial failure. Experts in and out of government had anticipated a detonation of at least several thousand tons.
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