U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking with the leaders of South Korea and Japan, reiterated “the unshakeable U.S. commitment to the security” of both countries after North Korea claimed it had tested a hydrogen bomb Wednesday.
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The Security Council said North Korea’s actions were a “clear violation” of the four previous sanctions resolutions “and therefore a clear threat to global peace and security continues to exist”.
Pyongyang’s claim that Wednesday’s test was a sophisticated hydrogen bomb has been largely dismissed by experts, who say the apparent yield was far too low for such a powerful device.
Indonesia has called for North Korea to comply with UN Security Council resolutions after the isolated country conducted a hydrogen bomb test, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Thursday.
The Security Council held an emergency meeting after North Korea announced its first hydrogen bomb test, which would mark a major advance for its still-limited nuclear arsenal.
The announcement came after the White House said the United States, South Korea and Japan had “agreed to work together to forge a united and strong worldwide response to North Korea’s latest reckless behavior”.
Meanwhile, in Pyongyang, North Koreans were seen “celebrating” the launch as they gathered around TV screens at the capital’s rail station.
“Despite North Korea’s nuclear threats, we were able to reaffirm solid confidence in the Korean economy in the financial markets”, KDB said. Apparently, North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un’s schooling in Switzerland – between the early 1990s and 2000 – led to him acquiring a certain taste for Swiss-made luxury goods, including the Movado watches reportedly sported by Kim and his wife Ri Sol-ju.
Relations between Pyongyang and Beijing have been frosty since Kim Jong Un succeeded his late father as dictator, promptly purging several key government figures – such as his uncle Jang Song Thaek – with strong ties to China. Apart from providing material assistance, that includes defending North Korea from condemnation at the United Nations over its human rights abuses and designating refugees from the North as economic migrants rather than asylum seekers. It also issued $1 billion of bonds due in 10 years at a 87.5 basis point premium, which compares with a 115 basis point spread for similar notes sold in September.
“In that case, North Korea will only be able to trade internationally by land, with bundles (of goods)”, he said during a panel discussion Wednesday.
Fusion weapons, such as hydrogen bombs, use fusion to combine small atoms – such as hydrogen – to create much larger amounts of energy.
A visitor looks at a display illustrating the damage a 1MT class nuclear weapon would cause if detonated in Seoul, at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.
The North called the device the “H-bomb of justice” and said: “The U.S.is a gang of cruel robbers which has worked hard to bring even a nuclear disaster to the DPRK”, using the official acronym for North Korea.
Though the North has claimed the test was a successful trial of a hydrogen bomb, experts have expressed skepticism.
MORE: What is a hydrogen bomb – and why is it so worrying if North Korea has one?
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In a statement, the Council reiterated its intention to take “further significant measures” against North Korea.
