North Korea carried out a powerful underground nuclear test Monday ”” much larger than one conducted in 2006 ”” in a major provocation in the escalating international standoff over its rogue nuclear and missile programs.
Pyongyang announced the test and Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed an atomic explosion at 9:54 a.m. local time in northeastern North Korea, estimating the blast’s yield at 10 to 20 kilotons ”” comparable to the bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The regime also test-fired three short-range, ground-to-air missiles Monday from the same northeastern site where it launched a rocket last month, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed sources. That liftoff, widely believed to be a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology, drew censure from the UN Security Council.
Last week John Bolton published an essay in the WSJ warning this was coming:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124277648950937029.html