South Korea has unleashed propaganda across its border with North Korea following the nuclear hydrogen bomb test announced by Pyongyang.
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“The two leaders also… agreed that the North should pay the appropriate price for the latest nuclear test and vowed to closely cooperate to have a strong resolution adopted at the UN Security Council”, it added.
In one of the broadcasts, an announcer said: “The nuclear test is making North Korea more isolated and turning it into the land of death”, according to Reuters.
The broadcasts are likely to infuriate the North which is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of leader Kim Jong Un, who is believed to be celebrating his birthday today – his exact age is unknown but he is thought to be in his early 30s.
South Korea has resumed propaganda broadcasts via loudspeaker over the border into North Korea.
(Stand-up) “The leaders of South Korea, the US and Japan also noted that Seoul and Tokyo’s recent settlement on Japan’s wartime sex slavery issue in the long run, will strengthen the allies’ efforts to counter North Korea’s nuclear threats”.
The UK’s Foreign Secretary has urged South Korea to “exercise restraint” in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear bomb test.
Last August, the two countries reportedly exchanged artillery fire over the issue before reaching a deal that ended the broadcasts and pledged other measures to ease tensions between the two Koreas.
As the propaganda broadcasts intensifies, North Korea has deployed troops while South Korea has raised its military readiness at locations near the loudspeakers.
This would include a partial ban on North Korean ships entering ports around the world. Mr. Yi has yet to respond to the South Korean foreign minister’s request for a telephone conference.
The report said that US officials familiar with intelligence reports of Wednesday’s test estimated the low yield of the detected blast to be between 5 kilotons to 7 kilotons – far less than would be detected in a two-stage thermonuclear blast, or hydrogen bomb.
In their tightly controlled society, North Koreans are not allowed to listen to K-Pop, although defectors from the rigidly controlled state have said that South Korean is still popular, thanks to the smuggling of USB sticks and DVDs.
China’s role in influencing North Korea is again in the spotlight following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test. Beijing is the country’s main ally and several figures including Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump have demanded China do more. The letter read “5.1 quake near North Korea’s nuclear facility”.
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There is still widespread speculation over what device the North actually did test, but global experts mostly concur that it could not have been a full-scale thermonuclear device as claimed.
