South Korean President Park Geun-hye called it an act of “self-destruction” showing the “maniacal recklessness” of leader Kim Jong-un who was completely ignoring the world’s call to abandon his pursuit of nuclear weapons.
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The 5.3-magnitude natural disaster that occurred as a result of the test on Friday indicated the blast was 10 kilotons in yield.
Natural disaster and Volcano of the Korea Monitoring Division Director Ryoo Yong-gyu speaks in front of a screen showing seismic waves that were measured in South Korea, in Seoul Friday, Sept. 9, 2016.
South Korea’s defense ministry on Friday said the yield of the blast is presumed to have been 10 kilotons, the largest ever conducted by Pyongyang.
He said Washington needed to maintain a sense of urgency within the worldwide community on sanctions against Pyongyang.
In Washington, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price was quoted by USA media as saying, “We are aware of seismic activity on the Korean Peninsula in the vicinity of a known North Korean nuclear test site”.
US President Barack Obama has said any provocative actions by North Korea would have serious consequences.
Lassina Zerbo, the head of world monitoring agency the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation, said the seismic activity registered on Friday was larger than that triggered by the North’s test in January.
China’s seeming inability to rein in Kim Jong-Un is increasingly embarrassing for Beijing: the North’s latest missile tests this week came as China was hosting a G20 summit. Not only has the range of the weapons jumped significantly, but the country is working to ideal new platforms for launching them – submarines and mobile launchers – giving the North greater ability to threaten the tens of thousands of USA troops stationed throughout Asia.
The longer ranges and mobile launchers give the North greater ability to threaten the tens of thousands of United States troops stationed throughout Asia.
The special broadcast was aired at around 1:00 pm Pyongyang time (0430 GMT) without prior notice, coming a few hours after South Korea said its neighbour had conducted another nuclear test.
China is North Korea’s only ally but has become increasingly impatient with the rogue nation, going as far as supporting new U.N sanctions against North Korea earlier this year.
After several failures, North Korea put its first satellite into space with a long-range rocket launched in December 2012, and has since launched another satellite on a similar rocket.
While officials have warned that the North’s submarine-launched missiles could be be fully operational before 2017. Some analysts believe that the country has the ability to arm shorter range missile with warheads.
The UN Security Council had in Resolution 2270 in March “condemned in the strongest terms” North Korea’s previous test in January, Amano said. This anxious many South Koreans because submarine-based missiles are harder to detect before launch than land-based weapons.
How advanced is North Korea’s weapons program?
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It is thought today’s test was planned to coincide with the 68th anniversary of the Pyongyang regime, founded by Kim Il-sung and now led by his grandson Kim Jong-un.
