Announcing the hydrogen bomb test on Wednesday, the North Korean leader said the weapons would be needed to protect North Korea from what he called “US aggression”.
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South Korea, which has grown increasingly close to China in recent years, says its foreign minister will speak with his Chinese counterpart later on Friday. The 2013 test, which also registered at 5.1 on the USGS scale, triggered immediate sanctions from the UN Security Council.
In South Korea, the mood was uncompromising, with President Park Geun-Hye calling for a strong worldwide response to what she called a “grave provocation”.
South Korean defence minister Han Min-koo at a press conference in Seoul.
Though North Korea already is subject to strict sanctions, the United Nations has promised a resolution to further strengthen these measures.
Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler, reporting from Paju in South Korea on Friday, said the North viewed the resumption of the broadcasts as an act of war and a distinct violation. “This explosion is mainly for the United States to see”.
The United States and its ally South Korea are limited in their military response.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that frontline troops, near 11 sites where loudspeakers started blaring propaganda at noon, were on highest alert.
“We urge South Korea to exercise restraint”, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said during a visit to Japan, after the South resumed the broadcasts.
“We are anxious about how things are developing”, the spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told a briefing. Diplomats said that could mean an expansion of sanctions, although major powers might baulk at an all-out economic offensive.
If the underground test is confirmed, it would be the North’s fourth nuclear test and its first of the H-bomb, which is more powerful than an atomic bomb. The seismic event recorded during Wednesday’s test, a magnitude of 5.1, is similar to those recorded during earlier nuclear tests conducted by North Korea, experts said.
The broadcasts began at midday local time (0300 UTC) Friday, the same day which is believed to be the birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Just how big a threat North Korea’s nuclear program poses is a mystery.
A White House spokesman said there had been no talk with South Korea about any introduction of the so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, a move opposed by China.
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“Vietnam resolutely supports denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, a comprehensive ban on the tests of nuclear bombs and the removal of any such kind of weapons”, the Spokesperson said.
