North Korea plan to conduct its third nuclear test - Iran certainly will be on hand. What the real intentions of the Hermit kingdom might be ( apart from using the test as negotiations tactics and payback from any condemnation from the UN for its recent sat launch ) is anyones guess !

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/New_UN_sanctions_spark_North_Korean_fury_999.html

New UN sanctions spark North Korean furyby Staff WritersUnited Nations (AFP) Jan 22, 2013

The UN Security Council ordered expanded sanctions Tuesday against North Korea for a banned rocket launch, triggering a defiant pledge by Pyongyang to bolster its nuclear deterrent.

The Security Council added North Korea's state space agency, a bank, four trading companies and four individuals to the UN sanctions list, and threatened "significant action" if the North stages a nuclear test.

The resolution, proposed by the United States, was passed unanimously by the 15-nation council, including North Korea's only major ally, China.

Pyongyang insists its December 12 rocket launch was a peaceful, scientific mission aimed at putting a satellite in space.

The UN resolution condemned it as a disguised ballistic missile test that violated existing sanctions imposed after the North's nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

The US government had sought a tough UN response to Pyongyang, as China tried to shield its ally from a new set of sanctions.

US Ambassador Susan Rice said the resolution was a sign that North Korea will have "an increasingly steep price" to pay if it chooses confrontation.

China's UN envoy Li Baodong stressed that sanctions alone would fail unless they were supplemented by a concerted diplomatic effort to engage Pyongyang in negotiations.

The Security Council demanded that the North suspend "all activities related to its ballistic missile program" and "abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."

It also expressed "its determination to take significant action in the event of a further DPRK (North Korea) launch or nuclear test."

The Korean Committee for Space Technology, the government agency that organized last month's rocket launch, topped the list of new bodies sanctioned.

The list also included Bank of East Land, which the resolution said had been used to transfer funds to "in a manner that circumvents sanctions" and had dealt with banks in Iran that also face UN sanctions.

Korea Kumryong Trading Corp., Tosong Technology Trading Corp., Korea Ryonha Machinery Joint Venture Corp. and Leader International (based in Hong Kong) were also added to the list.

All were accused of procuring equipment for North Korea's nuclear and missile development or of exporting and dealing in arms. The resolution deplored the North's use of "bulk cash" to avoid sanctions.

The four individuals put on the list were all involved in North Korea's technology development or bank officials.

"This resolution demonstrates to North Korea that there are unanimous and significant consequences for its flagrant violation" of previous resolutions, Rice told reporters.

North Korea's foreign ministry quickly slammed the council and hinted that a new nuclear test could be planned.

"We flatly reject and condemn the UN Security Council's extremely unfair resolution," said a ministry statement.

"We will take physical actions aimed at expanding and strengthening our self-defensive military forces, including nuclear deterrence."

Last month, a US think-tank used satellite photos to suggest the North has repaired extensive rain damage at its nuclear test site in the northeast of the country and could conduct a detonation at two weeks' notice.

China's Li said that despite his country's support for the resolution, the Council had to be "prudent, measured, proportionate, conducive to peace and stability," urging new efforts to "avoid the escalation of tension."

China has been trying to revive moribund six-nation talks on the North's nuclear program.

But North Korea's foreign ministry said there would be "no dialogue to discuss denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."

Analysts said the expanded sanctions would have a limited impact, but stressed the importance of China's backing for the resolution.

"North Korea would collapse without Chinese support. So when China backs sanctions, even if they aren't that tough, it's significant," said Robert Kelly, professor of Political Science and Diplomacy at Pusan National University.

South Korea, a temporary member of the council since January 1, welcomed the resolution, as did Japan and UN leader Ban Ki-moon.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/01/20131244504577116.html

North Korea 'plans to conduct nuclear test'

North says it plans to carry out third nuclear test, two days after UN condemned its rocket launch. Last Modified: 24 Jan 2013 06:03 inShare3 Email Print Share Feedback

North Korea was banned from developing missile technology in response to nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 [AP]

North Korea has said it planned to carry out a third nuclear test and more rocket launches aimed at its "arch-enemy" the US, two days after the UN condemned its rocket launch. "We are not disguising the fact that the various satellites and long-range rockets that we will fire and the high-level nuclear test we will carry out are targeted at the United States," North Korea's National Defence Commission said on Thursday. In a statement carried by state news agency KCNA, the National Defence Commission in Pyongyang threatened to wage a "full-fledged confrontation" against the US for what it called continued hostility. The declaration follows the UN Security Council's condemnation of North Korea on Tuesday and expanded sanctions against the regime for launching a rocket in December. North Korea said the launch was a peaceful satellite mission, but the US and others say it was actually a test of long-range missile technology. Pyongyang is believed by South Korea and other observers to be "technically ready" for a third nuclear test, and the decision to go ahead rests with Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader. Kim had authorised the previous rocket launch in defiance of UN sanctions last month. US response "Whether North Korea tests or not is up to North Korea," Glyn Davies, the top US envoy for North Korean diplomacy, said in the South Korean capital of Seoul. "We hope they don't do it. We call on them not to do it," Davies said. "This is not a moment to increase tensions on the Korean peninsula." The North was banned from developing missile and nuclear technology under sanctions dating from its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests. There is fear that Pyongyang, whose only major diplomatic ally, China, endorsed the latest UN resolution, could undertake a third nuclear test using highly enriched uranium for the first time, opening a second path to a bomb. Its previous tests have been viewed as limited successes and used plutonium, of which the North has limited stocks. North Korea gave no time-frame for the coming test and often employs harsh rhetoric in response to UN and US actions. Its long-range rockets are not seen as capable of reaching the United States mainland and it is not believed to have the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile. "The UNSC resolution masterminded by the US has brought its hostile policy towards the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea to its most dangerous stage," the commission was quoted as saying. and...... http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2013/01/23/15/0200000000AEN20130123005551315F.HTML (LEAD) N. Korea completes preparations for nuclear test By Kim Eun-jung SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has completed all technical preparations for a nuclear test and can carry it out in a few days if it makes a decision, a South Korean intelligence source said Wednesday.    North Korea had dug up a tunnel for a test at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, but the tunnel has now been plugged with dirt and concrete, the source said, suggesting that all measuring and other equipment has already been installed inside.    It was unclear when the tunnel was sealed.    "North Korea has completed technical preparations for a nuclear test," the source said. "If (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un makes a political decision, the North can conduct a nuclear test in a few days."    Earlier in the day, North Korea hinted at the possibility of conducting a nuclear test after the U.N. Security Council adopted a new resolution condemning the country's Dec. 12 long-range rocket launch.    South Korean officials said they have stepped up monitoring of the test site.    North Korea had detonated nuclear devices at the Punggye-ri test site in 2006 and 2009, following long-range rocket launches.    South Korean officials earlier had said that the North had repaired extensive rain damage at the sprawling nuclear test site known to have three tunnel entrances and multiple support buildings.    "North Korea has continuously conducted computer simulations for an additional atomic test with data acquired from the first and second nuclear tests," a senior official said, asking for anonymity as he is not allowed to disclose information to media. Seoul officials say the North is expected to detonate a nuclear device made of highly enriched uranium, which is difficult to immediately detect with available techniques, including airborne radioactivity, seismological and airborne sound wave tests.    "It seems that the North needs to develop highly enriched uranium to secure additional nuclear materials because of its limited quantity of plutonium," a senior intelligence official said, asking to be unnamed.    The North is capable of producing about 40 kilograms of HEU a year, intelligence officials said, considering North Korean officials at Yongbyon nuclear complex told U.S. nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, former chief of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, that 2,000 centrifuges were operational during his 2010 visit.   If that's correct, the North can produce up to two nuclear devices per year with that amount, they noted.    The defense ministry estimated in December that the North had spent about US$1.1-15 billion on its nuclear program.    Although Pyongyang insists the Dec. 12 rocket launch was aimed at sending an observation satellite into space, the UN resolution condemned it as a disguised ballistic missile test which violated current sanctions imposed after the North's nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.