South Korea said Friday that its military has heightened the alert level on its border with North Korea as propaganda broadcasts begin in response to Pyongyang’s claim to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, according to reports.
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‘Today in my conversation with the Chinese, I made it very clear that has not worked and we can not continue business as usual’.
The sound from the speakers can carry for 10 km (6 miles) into North Korea during the day and more than twice that at night, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported.
A nuclear bomb test in the same area in 2013 triggered a 5.1-magnitude quake.
He also reportedly wants direct talks with Washington, and the nuclear test put him right in the middle of the USA presidential race, where foreign policy already had become a major issue.
Ministry officials refused to elaborate about what USA military assets were under consideration, but they likely refer to B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighters and nuclear-powered submarines.
When Seoul briefly restarted the loudspeaker broadcasts in August for the first time in 11 years in retaliation for land mine blasts blamed on Pyongyang that maimed two South Korean soldiers, the North threatened to attack the South.
Mr Hammond, who is in Tokyo for talks with the Japanese government, said the worldwide community should do what is needed to bring North Korea into line through sanctions, in return for restraint by its southern neighbour.
China has also been sharply critical of the DPRK’s decision to conduct its fourth nuclear test.
The Alaska Earthquake Center says its equipment picked up seismic activity after North Korea’s claimed detonation of a hydrogen bomb Tuesday. The nation also allowed North Korean-registered ships to make port calls for humanitarian purposes, and it loosened restrictions on cash remittances to the impoverished nation.
Leader of the Democratic minority, Nancy Pelosi of California, promised Thursday there will be strong bipartisan support for the legislation tabled by the top Republican and Democrat lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would target access to hard currency and other goods and step up inspections of North Korean cargo.
To celebrate their country’s purported “successful hydrogen bomb” test earlier this week, North Koreans gathered in the country’s capital for a coordinated dance party and mass rally on Friday.
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North Korea has been developing a missile program over the past few decades, which has grown from artillery rockets to short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
