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SAN ANTONIO: Following the Oct. 9 nuclear test by North Korea, Airmen at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, are watching the latest developments closely.
Lt. Col. Stephen Pearse, the 35th Fighter Squadron's director of operations, said Airmen at Kunsan train to be ready at moment's notice.
“At any given time here in Korea our focus is towards the North and towards defending this peninsula,” he said. “Tomorrow we can get called into work and be generating airplanes to fly up to the North and do our mission.”
The Oct. 9 nuclear test by the North Koreans is the latest development in a strained relationship with the United Nations over their nuclear weapons program.
President George W. Bush spoke out about the test from the White House Oct. 9.
“The United States condemns this provocative act,” President Bush said. “North Korea has defied the will of the international community, and the international community will respond.”
North Korea lacks its own resources, like coal and oil, to produce energy in a traditional manner. By the mid 1980s, the country had four nuclear power complexes in operation. In 1985, U.S. defense experts estimated that the North Korean nuclear program had generated enough plutonium for two nuclear weapons and was ready expand their production rate.
In 1994, The United States and North Korea signed a nuclear non-proliferation agreement named the Agreed Framework. Terms of the agreement called for North Korea officials to halt their plutonium production program in exchange for fuel, economic cooperation and the construction, by the United States, of two modern nuclear power plants powered by light-water reactors.
It was widely speculated that North Korea did not abide by the agreement and in 2002 rumors surfaced that North Korea was conducting nuclear activities in defiance of the agreement. North Korean officials publicly stated that they did not have any weapons, but they had the right to possess them. In 2003 North Korea officially withdrew from the agreement.
Throughout 2005 and 2006, North Korea scientists conducted numerous missile tests, many of which were branded as failures. However, the status of their nuclear program was shrouded in mystery.
North Korean officials announced Oct. 3 that they soon would conduct a nuclear test. On Oct. 9, they gave China a 20-minute warning before conducting the test. Chinese officials then alerted other countries including the U.S. through emergency channels. China is considered to be one of North Korea's closest allies.
The United States has been aggressively attempting to enlist the support of the United Nations in imposing sanctions on North Korea. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it is a situation the U.S. does not want to get worse.
“In fact, it is our goal to see a de-escalation of this despite North Korea's actions,” the secretary said. “But North Korea now needs to understand that the international community has spoken. The international community has said that it is unacceptable for North Korea to have a nuclear program, that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains the goal of the international community; and so enforcing (UN Security Council Resolution) 1718 so that North Korea understands that it has no other option but to return to negotiations is extremely important.”
Colonel Pearse said the current mission is different from a stateside assignment because of how close they are to the enemy.
“The difference is the immediacy here,” he said. “It could be tomorrow that we are needed.”
