朝官员称朝鲜于今天上午成功进行首次核试验，朝鲜同时声明，核试验没有带来任何核泄漏等危险。对于朝鲜核试验声明，国际反应强烈。日本称不能立即确认该消息的真伪，但美国地质监测部门在朝鲜时间今天上午10点35分，监测到朝鲜发生了4.2级震动。包括中国、美国、韩国、日本在内的许多国家呼吁国际社会，坚决抵制朝鲜的核试验行为。有专家担心，如果朝鲜真的进行了核试验，势必会对当前东亚局势造成重大冲击，日本可能就会以此为借口来发展核武器，从而在亚洲引发一波有如冷战时期的核武竞赛。

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (C) inspects Korean People's Army unit 851 at an unidentified location in North Korea in this August 30, 2006 file photo. REUTERS/Korea News Service/Files North Korea said Monday it had performed its first nuclear weapons test, an underground explosion that defied international warnings but was hailed by the nation as a "great leap forward" for its people.  The reported test drew harsh rebuke from North Korea's neighbors. The U.N. Security Council is expected to discuss the North Korean issue on Monday, and the United States and Japan are likely to press for a resolution imposing additional sanctions on Pyongyang. The US Geological Survey said it had recorded a magnitude-4.2 seismic event in northeastern North Korea. Australia and South Korea also said there was seismic confirmation that pointed to a nuclear test. However, Japan said it could not immediately confirm the test. North Korea's nuclear test was equivalent to 550 tons of TNT, a state-run South Korean geological institute said. That is relatively small compared to the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, which was equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT. Although North Korea has long claimed it had the capability to produce a bomb, the reported test Monday, if confirmed, would be the first proof of its membership in a small club of nuclear-armed nations. That would dramatically alter the strategic balance of power in the region and seriously undermine global anti-proliferation efforts. The test Monday morning came a day after the ninth anniversary of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's appointment as head of the Korean Workers' Party. Tuesday will be the 61st anniversary of the party's founding. The North warned last week it would conduct a nuclear test, sparking frantic diplomatic efforts to head it off. Condemnation of North Korea from world powers came swiftly after the test was announced. China, the North's closest ally, said Beijing "resolutely opposes" the test and hopes Pyongyang will return to the six-party nuclear disarmament talks. Japan's top government spokesman said if confirmed, the North Korean test would post a serious threat to the stability in the region and a provocation. South Korea's presidential spokesman says Seoul will "sternly respond" to North Korea nuclear test and the Defense Ministry raised the military alert level. (Agencies)

Vocabulary:

magnitude-4.2 seismic: 4.2级地震 anti-proliferation: 反对核扩散 head it off: 反对 （英语点津陈蓓编辑）