Blizzardboy | A Kiwi in Japan

There was just a news story on Terebi Asahi (ANN) reporting a tremor originating in North Korea. They didn’t confirm whether North Korea has tested a nuclear device, but they did say that the tremor didn’t appear to be an earthquake. The tremor registered 3.5 on the Japanese magnitude scale, and occured at 10:35am JST.

North Korea may have chosen today to test the nuclear device to coincide with 10 October being a national holiday to celebrate the Founding of the Korean Workers Party. This month is a busy month for holidays in East Asia, with October 1st being National Day (国庆节) in the PRC celebrating the Founding of PRC in 1949. It is also a public holiday – Health and Sports Day here in Japan. The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also out of the country at the moment, visiting South Korea to discuss the issue with South Korean leaders.

Update: Found this up on a couple of blogs:
And Then There Were 8? ,
North Korea Conducts Nuclear Weapons Test,
and on Tammy Bruce’s blog – North Korea Conducts Nuke Test who suggests that the result of this will be a Japan with nuclear weapons.

Foxnews.com has a story up as well:

Report: North Korea Tests Nuclear Weapon

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test Monday, Yonhap news agency reported, citing government officials.

South Korean officials couldn’t immediately confirm the report.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has convened a meeting of security advisers over the issue, Yonhap reported, and intelligence over the test has been exchanged between concerned countries.

RightVoice reports:

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the test was conducted at 10:36 a.m. (9:36 p.m. EDT Sunday) in Hwaderi near Kilju city, citing defense officials.