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Reuters reports that North Korea may be preparing a new nuclear test:
There is increased activity at North Korea's known nuclear test site, a South Korean news report said on Thursday, suggesting Pyongyang is gearing up for a new test as it has threatened in response to tightened U.N. sanctions.Impoverished North Korea, whose only nuclear test in October 2006 led to U.N. financial and trade sanctions, could be ready to test another nuclear device in a matter of weeks, experts have said.Another test will serve as fodder for much bloviating on the right, but at this point there doesn't appear to be much that can be done. Undoubtedly, Newt Gingrich will assert that North Korean nuclear sites should be pre-emptively attacked. As Gingrich has absolutely no responsibility for policy, that's his luxury. The North Korean action appears to be in response to the relatively mild sanction imposed by the UN following the failed missile test of last month. On the upside, North Korea is thought to have only a relatively small amount of nuclear material, meaning that each additional test represents a real and significant decrease in North Korea's overall nuclear production capability. As I've suggested earlier, at this point the North Korea problem is one of management, rather than of solutions. The Obama administration should apply some pressure (to both China and North Korea), hold the international coalition together, and wait until Kim Jong Il either kicks off or gets assassinated. Even that won't necessarily solve the problem, but it will offer some opening. North Korea's position vis-a-vis South Korea, Japan, and the United States is deteriorating every single day; it is weaker today than it was yesterday, and will be weaker tomorrow than it is today. Time is on our side. --Robert Farley