Is North Korea a nuclear weapon state?

The U.S. CIA director-designate, Leon Panetta, confirmed on Thursday that North Korea conducted a test for a nuclear weapon three years ago.

"We know North Korea detonated a nuclear weapon in 2006," Panetta said in his opening statement at his Senate confirmation hearing.

The CIA director-designate`s comments are somewhat different from the position that had been held by the former Bush administration that North Korea "simply" detonated a nuclear device.

The Bush administration had vowed not to regard North Korea as a nuclear weapon state, refusing to confirm whether the North possesses nuclear weapons.

Panetta`s comments are in line with recent remarks made by new Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Gates said in his contribution article to Foreign Affairs journal that North Korea has built several nuclear bombs. Some U.S. intelligence and defense reports have also categorized the North as a nuclear weapon state.

Diplomatic observers in Seoul said the CIA director-nominee`s remarks indicate that the Obama administration is accepting North Korea`s possession of nuclear weapons as a fait accompli although it would not officially recognize the communist country`s nuclear-state status.

"But we don`t know whether Kim Jong-il is prepared to give up that nuclear capability once and for all," Panetta said.

Six countries -- South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- have long held talks aimed at ending the North`s nuclear ambitions. The latest round of the six-party talks stalled in December over North Korea`s refusal to allow inspectors to take samples from its nuclear reactor.

U.S. President Obama has vowed to continue the talks and opened the possibility of meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as part of bilateral engagement to resolve concerns over North Korea nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

New reports said North Korea is getting ready to test-launch another ballistic missile capable of reaching the western part of the mainland U.S., raising tension on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea last test-fired a ballistic missile in 2006, but its success is disputed because of its short-lived flight time.

The CIA director-designate also pointed to North Korea as one of the security priorities facing the United States.

"I really do think that if we are going to come into the 21st century we have got to set a list of priorities that not only look at current crises -- and clearly we`ve got Afghanistan, we`ve got Pakistan, we`ve got Iraq, we have North Korea," Panetta said.

He was stressing the importance of "clearly looking at Russia and China" and other "potential crises" that could develop in the future. (shinyb@heraldm.com)