October 9th, 2006

October 9th, 2006

On this day in History, North Korea announced it had done it’s first nuclear weapon test. For science, this was a very good thing;more and more people were learning how to manipulate the atom so that it would do as they desired; in this case, cause a huge explosion. This was also a great thing for the North Korean government, as they could now be the 9th nuclear power in the world. However, for the rest of the world, especially the US and it’s allies, this meant an eminent threat. North Korean officials were quoted making threats of war, saying things such as "if the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war...” 

After such testing, North Korea did rejoin the six-nation disarmament talks (aimed to form peace concerning nuclear weaponry) but since has been rumored to be taking underground nuclear tests, to which they have only informed neighboring China. The influence on the world showed that North Korea was a power to fear and that it was not any nation to brush aside and received limited military sanctions against it. Economically, it affected various areas in differing ways; in most places the economy and trade dropped but in gold did seem to rise.

I think that this event should make anyone a little scared, seeing that an enemy nation now holds nuclear power that could be used against us.