South Korean President Park Geun-hye, in Laos after a summit of Asian leaders ended there on Thursday, said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was showing “maniacal recklessness” in completely ignoring the world’s call to abandon his pursuit of nuclear weapons.
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Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif., said it appeared to be the biggest of North Korea’s five tests.
“Although the South Korean government said that the “most powerful sanctions ever” would lead to denuclearization of the North, the test showed that such sanctions have limits”, he said.
“The only thing the Kim Jong Un regime will get from this nuclear test will be more intensified sanctions from the worldwide community and deeper isolation”, Mr Park said.
Shock waves of magnitude 5.3 were detected near Punggye-ri about 9:30 a.m., according to an earlier statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Its first nuclear test was in 2006.
“If North Korea does not listen, of course we can try pressure, to use sanctions to resolve things”, Jin said.
The official said the 5-magnitude tremor can put the yield of this test at about 10 kilotons, which is believed to be Pyongyang’s most powerful nuclear detonation to date.
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported the country’s defence ministry was preparing to dispatch aircraft to analyse air samples to see if any radiation could be detected.
Prime minister Shinzo Abe of Japan said if a test had been conducted, “it simply can not be justified”.
South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn called an emergency meeting of top security officials.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea said Friday it conducted a “higher level” nuclear warhead test explosion that will allow it to finally build “at will” an array of stronger, smaller and lighter nuclear weapons.
North Korea is thought to have a handful of rudimentary nuclear bombs and has spent decades trying to flawless a multistage, long-range missile to eventually carry smaller versions of those bombs.
– July 6: The United States places North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on its sanctions blacklist.
But it has been infuriated by the isolated nation’s nuclear and missile tests and has signed up to increasingly tough United Nations sanctions.
Experts say the tests are likely aimed at refining designs and reliability as well as increasing yield.
In the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, residents praised the test.
That is twice as strong as the hydrogen bomb tested in January. It also said that the test was part of Pyongyang’s response to worldwide sanctions following its fourth nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in January and February.
“Also, the test was staged right after the G20 summit was held in its neighbour China”.
The claim of miniaturisation is a significant worry for the global community, especially in the light of an apparently stepped-up missile testing programme over recent months and years.
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Pyongyang had been preparing for its fifth nuclear test ahead of the 68th birthday of the country on September 9. “But it does not suggest the Peninsula situation is out of control, because there has been a foreseeable trajectory in Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and China will strongly oppose them by all means”, he added.
