North Korea has confirmed the worst suspicions of those who fear the destabilising consequences of nuclear proliferation by announcing that it will become a fully fledged nuclear state, able to build both uranium and plutonium bombs and fit them to its missiles.
In its latest act of defiance, Pyongyang is reportedly preparing a new series of missile launches and another nuclear test, after a North Korean long-range missile test in April and the second test of a nuclear explosive device in May.
North Korea's breakout announcement at the weekend followed the unanimous approval by the UN Security Council on Friday of a resolution demanding that it halt nuclear weapon tests, suspend its ballistic missile programme and rejoin the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The resolution marked a significant hardening of Chinese and Russian positions towards Pyongyang.
The Security Council resolution extends penalties on North Korea by targeting its financial transactions and arms industry. It authorised UN member states to inspect suspect sea, air and land cargo going to or from North Korea. They are required to seize and destroy goods shipped that violate the sanctions, including nuclear or missile supplies. North Korea has financed its weapons' programme with missile sales.
China and Russia had previously baulked at imposing sanctions. What accounts for their harder line against the North? Most officials and analysts rate the North's recent nuclear and missile tests as only a partial success, at best.
The first nuclear device exploded underground by North Korea in 2006 had a yield of 1 kilotonne, less than a quarter of the yield it told China in advance that it planned to achieve. The second underground test last month indicated a yield no more than 4 kilotonnes - enough to cause extensive damage to a city, but far smaller than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.