South Korea in ‘First Strike’ Alert Over Tests!

• South Korea in ‘first strike’ alert over tests! 
  by John Garnaut, http://www.smh.com.au/
  BEIJING: South Korea will pre-emptively strike against North Korea if it  shows intent to use a nuclear weapon, a top South Korean general says.
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  The pledge by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Jung  Seung-jo, to act ”even at the risk of war” reflects acute concern in Seoul and  Washington that Pyongyang is about to cross the threshold to possessing a  credible nuclear weapons capability.
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  North Korea has prepared a bomb for a test that will take place within weeks  or even days, Chinese and Western analysts and diplomats say.
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  North Korea’s third-generation dictator, Kim Jong-un, may choose his father’s  birthday, February 16, to test a larger or more advanced bomb than the plutonium  bombs tested in 2006 and 2009.
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  South Korea is the North’s usual rhetorical target, but the US has also been  singled out for special treatment.
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  ”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  last month, the state news agency KCNA reported.
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  The possibility of a North Korean nuclear warhead reaching as far as Los  Angeles or Darwin is no longer considered fanciful after the North successfully  tested a ballistic missile in December.
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  The North may also be close to developing a ”miniaturised” warhead that can  be fixed to it, analysts and diplomatic sources say.
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  A third North Korean nuclear test may place its only ally, China, in a  tighter bind, as the country would then be surrounded on all sides by nuclear  weapons states.
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  Sources close to the family of the new leader, Xi Jinping, say he is moving  to firmly grasp control of military and foreign affairs, and changes in  direction are not inconceivable.
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  But Chinese regional security analysts seem convinced that Beijing could not  force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program even if it tried.
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  ”There are hardly any circumstances that could divert North Korea from its  path to becoming a nuclear power,” said Cai Jian, professor of Korean studies  at Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University.
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  Professor Cai said the timing of North Korea’s nuclear test was uncertain,  and would be designed to extract maximum geopolitical leverage, but it would  happen because it was necessary for refining the weapons technology.
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