Kim Jong-un’s rhetoric has also become increasingly aggressive, analysts say.
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Ms Park condemned the move as an act of “self-destruction” that would deepen its isolation.
After a closed-door meeting on this matter, the 15-nation council said in a press statement that the nuclear test is a flagrant disregard of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, and “therefore a clear threat to global peace and security continues to exist”.
“South Korea and Japan are critical to our missile defense system, which will protect us against a North Korean missile”. It also took place on the 68th anniversary of the totalitarian regime – adding to speculation that the possible explosion was a nuclear test.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the nuclear test is an “unacceptable violation” of UN Security Council resolutions.
“The North Korean missile tests are a risky, reckless, provocative act”, he told reporters on the sidelines of the Pacific Forum.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks to reporters at United Nations headquarters.
The test was reportedly five times larger than the January test by North Korea as well.
“It’s persistent, it’s provocative, it’s risky”.
The Cabinet minister and Australian counterpart Julie Bishop broke off from talks in London earlier to speak to their Japanese counterpart about the development.
Since Obama has been in the White House, North Korea has claimed to have improved its nuclear weapon capabilities, including being able to mount a nuclear warhead to a ballistic missile.
British U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said that further action in response to North Korean provocations could be taken in three steps.
China must use its influence to stop North Korea carrying out nuclear tests, Boris Johnson has urged.
Seismic monitors detected a 5.3-magnitude “artificial earthquake” near the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, with “almost identical patterns” to previous detonations, according to South Korean experts.
Estimates of the explosive yield of the latest blast have varied.
South Korea’s Meteorological Administration believes the latest weapon to have contained about 10 kilotons of TNT, which is twice the size of North Korea’s last bomb, but not as large as the bombs the USA dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
South Korea’s military said it was about 10 kilotonnes, enough to make it the North’s “strongest nuclear test ever”.
“Our… party sent a congratulatory message to our nuclear scientists… for conducting the successful nuclear warhead explosion test”, she said.
Gardner said the USA should convene a meeting with South Korean and Japanese officials to develop a coordinated reaction.
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Now, Ban Ki-moon said, ” we are coming to nearly this confrontational situation”.
