North Korea is the only nation to conduct any nuclear tests in the 21st century.
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Pyongyang’s state media said the test, which comes after a series of ballistic missile launches that have drawn global condemnation and United Nations sanctions, had achieved its goal of being able to fit a miniaturised nuclear warhead on a rocket.
– April 23: North Korea test fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in January this year and a series of missile launches that followed have been condemned by the worldwide community, with harsh sanctions imposed against the reclusive country.
South Korea’s meteorological agency says a magnitude 5.3 seismic event in North Korea appears to have been a nuclear test.
In the streets of Pyongyang and Seoul, residents offered opposite views of North Korea’s latest nuclear test. We are trying to figure out whether it was successful.
The latest test, with an estimated yield of 10 kilotons, is the largest-ever staged by Pyongyang, Seoul’s military said.
A shallow 5.3-magnitude quake was recorded in North Korea Friday morning, that could have been the result of an explosion, according to the US Geological Survey. Japan has sent four jets to test for radiation.
In January North Korea detonated its fourth nuclear device at the site in the northeast of the country.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had earlier also told reporters that a confirmation of the nuclear test would be “absolutely unacceptable and we would have to lodge a strong protest”.
His instructions followed Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) detecting an artificial natural disaster centred in North Korea close to a previous test site, which it believes may have been a nuclear test.
Previous recent comments from China following North Korean missile tests, including one on Monday when China was hosting the G20 summit, have pointedly not mentioned North Korea by name.
– July 19: North Korea fires three ballistic missiles, with two of them flying between 500 to 600 kilometers (310 to 375 miles).
The episode unfolded less than a day after U.S. president Barack Obama concluded the final Asian tour of his presidency and highlighted the conundrums that the North Korean threat presents to the United States and China, which have often been at odds over how to respond to the bellicose acts of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
North Korea says it will continue to take efforts to strengthen the quantity and quality of its nuclear weapons.
Experts say the tests are likely aimed at refining designs and reliability as well as increasing yield.
Scientists will now attempt to analyse the blast to try to determine what kind of a breakthrough it represents, including whether it is a standard atomic bomb or a more powerful hydrogen, or thermonuclear, bomb.
In a statement read on state TV, Kim called it a “spectacular success”, that would make “make the world. look up to our strong nuclear country”.
North Korea’s persistent pursuit of missiles and nuclear weapons has always been one of the most intractable foreign policy problems for USA administrations.
If Pyongyang can make a nuclear device small enough to fit on a warhead, and bolster the range and accuracy of its missiles, it might achieve its oft-stated aim of hitting United States targets.
China has condemned North Korea’s fifth nuclear test, a key denunciation for Pyongyang by its economic lifeline and only major ally. Washington stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea as a buttress against any North Korean aggression.
“The 10-kiloton blast was almost twice the fourth nuclear test and slightly less than the Hiroshima bombing, which was measured about 15 kilotons”, said Kim Nam-Wook from the South’s meteorological agency.
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2013, December 13: North Korea announces the execution of Kim Jong-Un’s uncle and political mentor, in a move seen by some as a sign of internal dissent.
