Mr Obama also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to South Korea’s security, and the two leaders agreed to work on a “united and strong worldwide response to North Korea’s latest reckless behavior”, the White House said in a statement.
Advertisement
The head of an worldwide body set up to monitor a planned ban on nuclear testing condemned North Korea’s fourth nuclear test on Wednesday and called it a “wake-up call” for the global community.
Park Hyeong-Jung of the Korea Institute for National Unification said this suggests North Korea is still peeved at China for criticizing its nuclear program and backing sanctions.
North Korea yesterday conducted its first hydrogen bomb test – triggering an quake near the state’s main nuclear site.
The DPRK announced that it had carried out what it said was a successful hydrogen bomb test on Tuesday night.
– July 5, 2006: North Korea launches a three-stage rocket with a potential range of 4,100 miles, but it fizzles after liftoff, according to USA and South Korean officials.
While the Obama administration has had success in curtailing Iran’s nuclear ambitions to a degree, it has been unable to make any headway with North Korea. Many nations voiced their outrage over the alleged test, including the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and China, but there was equally as much skepticism about whether or not the test was truly a hydrogen bomb.
At the time, North Korea responded by threatening a nuclear strike on the US.
Hydrogen bombs can be 1000 times more powerful than the atomic weapons dropped on Japan in 1945 – killing around 200,000 people.
Q: What do you think of North Korea’s claims that they have detonated a hydrogen bomb?
The statements said the test was aimed at defending itself from Washington’s “hostile” policy and nuclear threat.
Ultimately, North Korea is unlikely to have sufficiently operationalised a nuclear device for a warhead, and additional sanctions are the most likely outcome from the test.
Advertisement
Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko told reporters that China said nothing in the meeting beyond its “standard” comments on North Korea’s nuclear situation.
