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WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES: During his confirmation hearing, Leon Panetta acknowledged North Korea’s 2006 nuclear weapons test. The Bush Administration had always described the event a “the detonation of a nuclear device”. This, coupled with North Koreas plan to test a ballistic missile capable of reaching California, has the U.S. State Department scrambling to set up Hillary Clinton’s first visit to the region. The U.S. is still not granting North Korea the title of “nuclear state”, which seems stupid to me. What are we trying to do, force them to prove it?

In South Korea, tension is running high after recent “tough talk” by Kim Jong-il. No one is really sure the six-party talks will start up again, and Kim has managed to set up a country full of deprived people who still seem to like him. That makes it rather hard to convince the guy. Until someone can think of something Kim Jong-il wants more than a country of his own and a nuclear weapon to defend it, we are going to keep having this problem.

Article from The Korea Herald: Is North Korea a nuclear weapon state?