North Korea conducts a second nuclear test

On 25 May, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea conducted what it claims to be a second nuclear test. According to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, the International Monitoring System’s (IMS) seismic stations registered a seismic event at 41.2896 degrees North and 129.0480 degrees East at 00:54:43 GMT (09:54 local time). The signal’s area of origin is largely identical with the 2006 DPRK nuclear test. The event’s magnitude is slightly higher than in 2006, measuring 4.52 on the Richter scale, while in 2006 it was 4.1. Those doing the calculations at ArmsControlWonk.com suggest the yield of the nuclear explosive device was likely around 4 KT.

WILPF issued a statement in response to the DPRK test, over which it expresses deep concern. However, WILPF remains equally concerned about previous nuclear tests of other states and their continued possession of nuclear weapons. In its formal response to the test, WILPF called on all states outside of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to ratify it without delay or conditions and called on all states possessing nuclear weapons to immediately shut down their nuclear test facilities and to acknowledge and compensate the victims of their testing programmes.

In this statement, WILPF also noted that if the CTBT were in force, the Treaty would give greater legitimacy to international responses. Its member states could adopt sanctions against the DPRK for violating international law. Currently, the task of coordinating an international response falls to the UN Security Council, a body not entitled to enforce international norms per se, but an unrepresentative political body dominated by the interests of its five permanent, veto-wielding members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, two of whom (China and the US) have yet to ratify the CTBT themselves.

Keep an eye on the CTBTO website for news about the test.