North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Il thinks that the DPRK has an inalienable sovereign right to carry out a nuclear detonation test at the time of its choosing in the maximum interests of national security. He thinks it the first duty of the DPRK as a sovereign and independent nation to do whatever is deemed necessary for its national defense.

In his analysis, a nuclear testing will serve the national security purposes of dissuading the US from launching a military strike on the DPRK. It will help the Korean government and people to devote themselves to economic construction, relieved of the fears of his nation being unable to defend itself from American attacks. Market-economy experiments will be guaranteed virtual success.

<##IMAGE##>The US is the world"s sole superpower most heavily armed with nuclear weapons and still now conducts nuclear tests. Russia, China, Great Britain, France, India and Pakistan are nuclear powers that conducted nuclear tests. Israel is widely believed to have secretly tested their nuclear devices.

It is the principled stand of Kim Jong Il that those nuclear-weapons states and in particular the US have no right at all to express their opposition to the North Koreans ha ing nuclear deterrence and conducting nuclear tests. Needless to say, Japan and South Korea, which are home to nuclear-armed American forces, are in no position to do so. The US is set on on re-invading the DPRK and overthrowing its government. The US has adamantly refused to end its policy of hostility and policy of nuclear preemption against North Korea, far from signing a peace treaty and giving diplomatic recognition to Pyongyang. Japan considers the DPRK as one of its major potential enemies.

Whether the DPRK is a sovereign nation does not matter at all for Washington. The US invaded Iraq, a sovereign state and a member of the UN. Russian or Chinese opposition did not prevent the Bush Administration from invading Iraq and toppling its legitimate government. Japan and South Korea sent troops to Iraq to help the American invaders.

In the absence of a firm American promise to end its hostility and peacefully co-exist with the DPRK, the Government of Kim Jong Il sees no good reason to refrain from a nuclear testing. Responsible for the security of the DPRK and its people, they must reserve the right to carry out a nuclear testing depending on American behavior. The Boston Globe reported May 9 that the US refused to pledge not to attack non-nuclear states with nuclear weapons in the New York NPT review conference.

Political Benefit
It is the stand of Kim Jong Il that military affairs are to be viewed primarily from political benefits. What counts most is whether a given military action will produce the desired political benefits. So far information leaks from the US are serving the political purposes of the DPRK Government to a certain extent -- a sort of own goal by the American policy-makers.

The New York Times noted May 8 that half doze nukes in the North Korean arsenal are as good as 5,200 operational ones in the American hands in political impact. In one sense prominent media attention to the possible North Korean nuclear testing, prompted by American information leaks, are doing a very good job of creating a sense of anticipation in the world public, which will in turn alleviate whatever shock arising from an actual nuclear experiment.

Small Downside
Kim Jong Il is duly confident that a nuclear testing will not have any significant downside. In the first place, the February 10, 2005 statement by the DPRK Foreign Ministry that the DPRK has nuclear weapons has not produced any adverse results on its foreign relations, political and economic. The nuclear arms acquisition statement is strategic while a nuclear testing is tactical and technical, being a logical small part of the nuclear weapons state. The strategic statement has prepared the rest of the world for an eventual nuclear detonation experiment, leading them to anticipate one with resignation and alleviating whatever is counterproductive.

In the view of the North Korean leader and his associates, a bolt from the blue-type announcement of a nuclear testing -- as the US and other nuclear weapons states did -- is bound to generate far-reaching reverberations throughout the world. The steady piecemeal leak of information on the North Korean nuclear program has done a great lot to reduce a possible global resistance.

All European allies of the US, except France, have recognized the DPRK and established full diplomatic relations with it in full knowledge that the DPRK has a nuclear weapons program. The first British ambassador to Pyongyang dismissed as senseless the allegation that the DPRK"s nuclear program is a threat to peace, on the ground that the American nuclear weapons constitute a far much greater threat to world peace.

There is little to support the allegation that an underground nuclear testing will result in serious environmental contamination. The North Korean scientists will take sufficient precautionary measures to minimize whatever likely ecological harm.No adverse impact has ever been reported on the underground nuclear testings conducted by the nuclear weapons states.

Great Upside
Kim Jong Il thinks that a nuclear testing has a great upside that more than enough offsets any downside. Since the DPRK scientists are prepared to carry out a nuclear test at at any time short notice, he will give the nuclear testing team the green light at the timing that he decides will produce the maximum political benefits. For the time being, he will keep the American policy-planners busy guessing, reaping all available political benefits, which distinguishes North Korea from Iraq.

Political manipulation of information on Iraq may have created favorable domestic and international opinion for the US invasion of Iraq. However, this is not the case in North Korea. Although Pyongyang pretends to be suffering from disinformation circulated by the Americans, the North Koreans stand to benefit from it. From Kim Jong Il"s point of view, negative attention is also helpful as it makes headlines around the world. The higher the tensions run, the better they serve the North Korean cause.

The more rumors or disinformation on the possible North Korean nuclear testing, the longer way they will go towards the Government of Kim Jong Il the trouble of carrying out an actual nuclear experiment. The Washington Post reported May 20: Fears of a possible North Korean nuclear test has prompted the Bush Administration to woo the North Korean Government of Kim Jong Il that they hate most. It notes: "Spurred by fears of a possible North Korean nuclear test, the United States and its Asian allies have stepped up a diplomatic offensive to bring Pyongyang back to disarmament talks, but analysts say the effort has yet to show any signs of results."

Benefit No. 1: Confirmation beyond doubt that the DPRK is a full-fledged nuclear weapons state, causing a dramatic shift in the military balance in the region -- which happened in the second half of the 1980s. The US will be awakened to the extent of danger that is in a preemptive strike on North Korea or lack of normal relations with a nuclear power. It is better to be a friend with a nuclear-armed state than to be an enemy. The US will be left with no other option than to recognize and respect the DPRK as a regular member of the elite Nuclear Club.

The point is that a nuclear testing will do the DPRK and the Korean people as a whole and the rest of the world great services of preventing another Iraq, a nuclear war that will end up with the US consumed in a nuclear conflagration.

Benefit No. 2: Shoot-down of the American nuclear umbrella over South Korea and Japan, neutralizing the American nuclear presence in the two and reminding Seoul and Tokyo of the futility of being reliant on American nuclear deterrence and prompting de-Americanization of their national security policy.

Most important is a long-term impact on the anti-American movement in South Korea that favors reunification with North Korea. In short, a giant step will be taken toward eventual reunification of the divided Korean Peninsula.

A Senate GOP panel report dated May 19 envisages a possibility of South Korea seeking confederation with South Korea.

Benefit No. 3: A nuclear testing will be prelude to economic prosperity in the DPRK because a mighty nuclear deterrence will enable its government and people to devote all their energies to economic resources by relieving them of any fear of being attacked by the American forces.

A case in point is China. Successful nuclear testings and acquisition of powerful nuclear deterrence made the Chinese government and population of their national security and paved the historic way for present-day Chinese economic prosperity.