Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, said that the North may have believed that the dispute among South Korea, the U.S. and China over THAAD would allow it to conduct the nuclear test without any repercussions.
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The North conducted yet another nuclear test on its founding anniversary Friday (Korean time), just eight months after its fourth test in January, with seismic signals pointing to an artificial quake near the North’s Pyunggye-ri underground nuclear test site.
Obama was briefed on the situation as he flew home from a trip to Asia aboard Air Force One, Earnest said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters Friday that if North Korea had conducted another nuclear test it was “absolutely unacceptable”.
The White House’s National Security Council said it was aware of seismic activity on the Korean Peninsula.
Friday is North Korea’s national day and the nuclear test also comes just after U.S. President Barack Obama left Asia after attending global summits in China and Laos. Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said Japan’s capital city is also testing water samples and monitoring radiation levels in the air.
China’s official Xinhua news agency, in a commentary after North Korea confirmed the test, said it was shocking and unwise and would only “add oil to the flames”.
Its most powerful explosion to date follows a test in January that prompted the UN Security Council to impose tightened sanctions that increased North Korea’s isolation but failed to prevent it from accelerating weapons development.
North Korea carried out its fifth and most powerful nuclear test on Friday (Sept 9), sparking condemnation from regional leaders.
“Today’s nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, if confirmed, is its second this year and the fifth since 2006”, said International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano.
North Korea has been hit by five sets of United Nations sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006, but has insisted it will continue, arguing it faces an existential threat from USA aggression.
“The only thing that Kim Jong Un regime can gain from the nuclear tests is stronger sanctions from the worldwide community and its isolation”.
The 5.0-magnitude natural disaster Friday is the largest of the four past quakes associated with North Korean nuclear tests, according to South Korea’s weather agency.
China’s environment ministry began emergency radiation monitoring along its borders with North Korea in northeast China, state television reported.
North Korea often uses such events as an opportunity for a show of military strength.
Park’s office says she spoke in Laos with President Barack Obama about the test Friday morning, but didn’t immediately reveal more details.
“The North Korean leadership knows exactly what they are doing and how far they can push things”.
The U.S. Geological Survey called the seismic activity an “explosion” on its website.
“That means John Key should raise the issue, particularly amongst the strategic players in the region, South Korea, the United States and most notably China, which wields the most influence over North Korea”, Shearer said. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form.
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Another Beijing-based diplomatic source said the level of Beijing’s anger with South Korea could be seen with what he termed as the unusually strong public comments about THAAD by President Xi Jinping when he met South Korea’s president this week on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.
