US Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives could join forces in a rare display of unity to further tighten sanctions on North Korea.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, telling him the North’s nuclear test had proven that China’s approach to handling its erratic ally “has not worked and we can not continue business as usual”.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye spoke to US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday to build consensus on new United National Security Council sanctions against North Korea.
Similarly, the United Nations Security Council agreed on Wednesday to implement new measures to punish North Korea for its provocation.
Wang told Kerry that China stands ready to work with other parties to jointly address the issue to safeguard the global nuclear non-proliferation regime under the new situation, said Hua.
Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, told journalists that Democrats would support a North Korea bill likely to be brought for a vote by Republicans one week from now. Just how big a threat North Korea’s nuclear program poses is a mystery.
South Korea’s spy service said it thought the estimated explosive yield from the blast was much smaller than what even a failed hydrogen bomb detonation would produce.
He said his late father and former leader Kim Jong-Il, “turned the DPRK into a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation”.
During the phone call, the two top diplomats also exchanged views on the Iran nuclear issue and China-U.S. relations.
“I believe that China is honest in its desire not to see nuclear capability developed by North Korea”, he added.
If confirmed, this would be North Korea’s fourth nuclear test. It came days before Kim Jong-un’s 33rd birthday, which falls on Friday and is expected to be marked by celebrations.
U.S. officials are stressing China should be very anxious that Pyongyang never warned Beijing of the upcoming nuclear test, as it did in the previous instances.
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“At this stage, we don’t think it is appropriate to talk about the withdrawal or closure of the complex”, said spokesperson Jeong Joon-hee of South Korea’s unification ministry, which restricted access to Kaesong from south of the border a day earlier.
