North Korea - wave it in the air, like you just don't care

The yield of the nuclear device that North Korea detonated last night was a small one - at best the size of Hieroshima's Little Boy (1KT). Furthermore it is yet not clear if it was a weaponised device or only at test-bed. That's a fact that is hardly reported on - and rightly so, for Korea's nuclear test was a political one rather than a military one, a nuance that was also lost on my radio among grave MA students, commenting on the military tradition and strategy of DPRK.

Stratfor puts it best:

"With elections set for 2007 in South Korea and U.S. midterm elections only weeks away, the political magnitude of the North's test might exceed what was actually measured on the Richter scale."