Pyongyang said the U.S. must recognise it as a “legitimate nuclear weapons state” and that it would continue to strengthen its nuclear power “in quality and quantity” despite the West’s condemnation of the programme.
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The ruling party’s newspaper Rodong Sinmun has warned “gone are the days. when the United States could make a unilateral nuclear blackmail against the DPRK”. The UN Security Council agreed on Friday immediately to begin work on a new series of sanctions.
The North also vowed to increase its nuclear strike force “in quality and in quantity”, two days after its fifth test in a decade sparked global condemnation and moves for tougher United Nations sanctions.
The government welcomed the U.N. Security Council’s press statement strongly condemning North Korea’s nuclear test.
“The US is exasperated by the strong military steps being taken by the DPRK in a phased way”.
The US says it is considering its own sanctions, in addition to any imposed by the UN Security Council, Japan and South Korea.
The Rodong commentary, carried by the North’s official KCNA news agency, slammed South Korean President Park Geun-Hye as a “dirty prostitute” of foreign forces.
“We will be working very closely in the Security Council and beyond to come up with the strongest possible measure against North Korea’s latest actions”, said Kim.
“The 10-kiloton blast was almost twice the (power of the) fourth nuclear test and slightly less than the Hiroshima bombing, which was measured about 15 kilotons”, said Kim Nam-Wook of the South Korea’s meteorological agency.
The fundamental solution to the problem, he stressed, is to focus on dealing with the North Korea nuclear issue, which is the source of the problem. Artificial seismic waves measuring 3.9 were reported after North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006; 4.8 was reported from its fourth test this January.
The South has no atomic weapons of its own and shelters under the nuclear “umbrella” of its U.S. ally, which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter also singled out China’s influence saying the global community should redouble pressure on North Korea after the test, on the 68th anniversary of North Korea’s founding.
China has always been under pressure to rein in its increasingly aggressive neighbour.
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The council met at the request of Japan, South Korea and the United States to agree on a response, despite resistance from China, Pyongyang’s ally, to calls for tougher measures. “We are opposed to testing and we believe that it is more urgent than ever to work together to ensure denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”, Liu said.
