North Korea North Korea said it had detonated a nuclear weapon on 25 May 2009, sparking an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council amid fears the communist state is racing to fit atomic warheads on its improving arsenal of ballistic missiles
North Korea’s nuclear test
Tuesday 26 May 2009
North Korea, defiant in the face of international condemnation of its nuclear test, was reported to have fired three more short-range missiles off its east coast. Messages intercepted by Japanese coast guards warned that such salvoes could continue until May 30. The picture above is a file image.
Tuesday 26 May 2009
South Korean commanders salute the national flag at a meeting of force commanders after Seoul announced it was joining a US-led initiative to intercept nuclear material shipments - an act Pyongyang had warned it would view as an 'act of war'
Tuesday 26 May 2009
North Koreans applaud during a ceremony in Pyongyang to celebrate the country's second nuclear test in three years
Tuesday 26 May 2009
South Korean boys wearing masks listen to a government official explaining the effect of a nuclear bomb blast over Seoul
Monday 25 May 2009
South Korean president Lee Myung-bak talks with President Barack Obama, who assures him of his 'unequivocal commitment' to South Korea's security and vows to pursue tough UN measures to curb Pyongyang's atomic ambitions
Monday 25 May 2009
President Barack Obama makes a statement condemning North Korea's latest atomic test, believed to be timed to coincide with the US memorial day holiday, as a reckless provocation
Monday 26 May 2009
Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin, current president of the Security Council, says the UN body will begin work on a new resolution after convening for an emergency session at which world powers condemned North Korea's nuclear test
Monday 25 May 2009
People read extra editions of newspapers reporting North Korea, the pariah communist state, had successfully carried out an underground nuclear test
