Russian MoD: N. Korea is 'de facto' nuclear power

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday that North Korea had "de facto" become the world's ninth nuclear power and stuck to Russian estimates about the force of a nuclear test claimed by the isolated Communist state. "A nuclear device was tested, it is a colossal blow to the nonproliferation regime. North Korea de facto has become the ninth nuclear power," Ivanov told reporters in Moscow.