North Korea says it is now capable of mounting nuclear warheads onto its arsenal of ballistic missiles after it conducted its fifth and most powerful atomic test to date.
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Tension has been high since North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January and a controversial rocket launch in February, events which led the United Nations Security Council to tighten sanctions on the isolated nation.
“North Korea conducted the fifth nuclear test at Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province”, National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong said.
Philip Yun, executive director of Ploughshares Fund, a group that advocates nuclear disarmament, said that North Korea had become “increasingly aggressive”.
Last month, North Korea successfully launched a missile from a submarine near its east coast port of Sinpo.
Dec 3, 2015: Satellite images indicate North Korea is excavating a new tunnel at its main nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, U.S. think-tank says.
It is unclear how committed all major powers are in applying pressure on the North Korean regime, as China and the USA are in a period of heightened confrontation in East Asia.
The US Geological Survey and European agencies measured a magnitude of 5.3 at 0030 GMT.
Japan has despatched military aircraft to collect air samples to monitor for radiation, while China said it was monitoring radiation levels close to its borders with the North.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says that Obama talked to Park and Abe on the phone, and “reiterated the unbreakable US commitment to the security of America’s allies in Asia and around the world”.
“We are aware of seismic activity on the Korean Peninsula in the vicinity of a known North Korean nuclear test site”, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said.
The ministry estimated the explosive yield as being equivalent to 10 kilotons of TNT, the most powerful detonation unleashed in a North Korean nuclear test so far, according to the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
North Korea has always insisted it will continue nuclear tests despite global condemnation and toughened sanctions.
Before the confirmation, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly said that evidence pointed to the possibility that the quake had not occurred naturally.
North Korean nuclear tests are usually heralded by chatter among analysts about preparations at Punggye-ri but there had been little discussion in recent weeks over any signs.
So far this year North Korea has pursued an aggressive weapon testing schedule.
The nuclear test was “unwise”, the news agency, which is watched closely as a proxy for the Chinese government, concluded.
South Korea believes it is the North’s biggest ever test, raising fears the state has made real nuclear advances.
Abe also said that Japan would liaise closely on the matter with the US and South Korea as the situation unfolds, Xinhua news agency reported.
The bomb dropped by USA forces on Hiroshima, Japan, had a yield of 16 kilotons.
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North Korea has been hit by five sets of United Nations sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
