Escalating activity at suspected underground nuclear weapon test sites in North Korea is reinforcing a declaration by Kim Jong IPs regime that it will detonate a fission-type nuclear de-vice, ostensibly to deter a "U.S. threat of aggression." However, the recent activity also could mean the reclusive regime, which has refined brinkmanship to an art form, may simply be feinting, wanting the U.S., China and other nations to think an underground nuclear test is imminent. The idea, many analysts believe, is to refocus world attention on North Korea and away from Iran's nuclear maneuvering. Suffering from stiff economic sanctions imposed after abandoning earlier nonproliferation agreements in 2002, North Korea may be using the threat of a nuclear test as leverage to ease those sanctions.
展开▼
