North Korea said that it had successfully conducted a test of a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear device early Wednesday morning.
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Initial reports said an quake measuring a 5.1 magnitude was registered in North Korea near a known testing site in the isolated country. The fourth nuclear test in the country since 2006 was conducted in “self-defence” against the U.S. and prompted a meeting of the United Nations security council. “We have managed to become a great nuclear power capable of protecting the independence and national dignity of our Motherland with the might of strikes by nuclear and hydrogen bombs”, Kim Jong-Un was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying. In a hydrogen bomb, radiation from a nuclear fission explosion sets off a fusion reaction responsible for a powerful blast and radioactivity.
China is the sponsor of the long-stalled six-party talks, which also include the two Koreas, the United States, Russia and Japan, and Ms Hua called them the “only practical way to resolve the relevant issue”.
He called it a violation of the U.N. Security Council agreements that is against the global efforts toward nuclear disarmament.
“We absolutely can not tolerate this”, Abe said. It is unclear whether the test was successful or not.
“It’s more like an ordinary atomic bomb test, not a hydrogen bomb”, he said.
Park called on the military to maintain readiness in cooperation with the USA troops in South Korea as she warned of a stern retaliation if Pyongyang stages a provocation against Seoul.
The special statement says: “The halt of nuclear development and the dismantling of nuclear facilities by North Korea will not become possible until the USA gives up its hostile policies”.
The South Korean government said it’s convening an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.
A Korean expert, Scott Snyder while speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations said that despite repeated warnings from the US, Chinese and South Korean leaders, the leadership of North Korea has not given any heed. Zerbo said: “Our worldwide monitoring system detected an unusual seismic event in the Korean peninsula at latitude 41.27 longitude 129.10”.
However, the agency said Pyongyang will act as a responsible nuclear state and vowed not to use its nuclear weapons unless its sovereignty was infringed.
It could take several weeks for confirmation that this was a hydrogen or thermonuclear bomb.
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China said the test was conducted “irrespective of the worldwide community’s opposition”.
