North Korea has apparently relented on its threat to test a nuclear weapon this weekend.

The North also denied speculation that its nuclear test was imminent and said the regime has not raised the alert level of the country's military, said Jang Sung-min, citing a telephone conversation with an unidentified Chinese diplomatic official.

North Korea warned the Chinese official, however, that it would accelerate its preparations for a nuclear test if the United States moves toward imposing sanctions or launching a military attack, Jang said, citing his contact.

The Chinese official was informed of North Korea's stance by North Korean officials Sunday afternoon, Jang said.

The official then telephoned Jang in South Korea with the news.

Jang is a former lawmaker of the then-ruling Millennium Democratic Party which later split into the ruling Uri Party and an opposition party. He currently heads a policy think tank in Seoul and has been active in Northeast Asian affairs.

The Chinese official's comments cannot be independently confirmed. Jang declined to identify the Chinese official, citing the sensitive nature of the issue.

I am not surprised. The current "threat" from North Korea has been based on its widely-assumed stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium. While it is not considered a terribly complicated technological challenge to build an atomic bomb once one has HEU in hand, an active test has formidable implications for North Korea whether it succeeds OR fails. If it succeeds, it finds itself in a much higher stakes game. Nuclear weapons--one's that really work, will be in Japan at least, and perhaps in South Korea too. This is bad for everyone, not the least of which is North Korea. As long as it is the sole alleged nuclear power in the region (excepting China and the Soviets), it has as much leverage as it can ever expect to have. What can NK threaten its neighbors with when they too have nuclear weapons?

If they fail, they "lose face", as they did with the risible performance of the Taedong II missile that is designed to reach the west coast of North American, but didn't get much past the Korean shoreline.

With such poor prospects for a nuclear test, why would someone even threaten one? I can only assume intense desperation. Little has been reported in the western media about US moves to choke the economic lifeblood of the NK regime. The supernote forgery business has been badly damaged, if not completely destroyed--a factor that directly affects the regime's elite. Without western currently-forged or not--no more bourbon and caviar.

That might seem a little facetious, but without these luxuries, Kim Jong Il has nothing to offer for the loyalty of those that enforce his rule. At that point, its every man for himself, which I suspect is what the U.S. was hoping for all along. The various factions will be lining up to do a deal with the Americans and in fact Kim Jong Il is trying to beat them to it by insisting on bilateral talks, so he can get the goodies flowing again.

I suspect Kim Jong Il's regime is not long for this world, in fact we may see its collapse inside of 12 months...