Pyongyang declared it successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test Wednesday, catching everyone off guard ― not just Seoul and Washington, but also Beijing, the communist country’s top political and economic patron.
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The Unification Ministry says visitors who are not directly related to business operations in Kaesong industrial park will be denied entry.
“The entry restriction is a measure to ensure the safety of the citizens in this state of emergency”, a ministry official told AFP, asking not to be named.
Satoshi Yamamoto, an NRA official, told reporters late Wednesday that in general radioactive material is not even expected to be released in the case of underground nuclear tests.
Asked about a suggestion from U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump that China could do more to rein in North Korea, Hua said: “What constructive efforts have they made?”
“Any escalation in this region, any over-reaction can easily lead to not only a conflict between South and North Korea, but drag China and the United States and Japan into a confrontation”, Cordesman said.
South Korean companies – mostly small- and medium-sized – make products such as watches and fashion goods with cheap labor from North Korea.
In 2013, during a period of heightened cross-border tensions, Pyongyang effectively shut down the zone for five months by withdrawing its workers.
The North’s main ally China voiced its strong opposition, while the White House said it was still studying the precise nature of the test and vowed to “respond appropriately”. North Korea’s declaration that it had tested a hydrogen bomb fo…
South Korea said Thursday that it will resume anti-Pyongyang broadcasts this week along the heavily fortified border with North Korea in retaliation of Pyongyang’s claimed hydrogen bomb test.
Despite the pressure on the White House and North Korea’s seemingly ever-more potent military capabilities, Kim said a dramatic change in USA policy was unlikely.
Joel Wit, founder of the North Korea-focused 38 North website, said a boosted bomb “is the most likely option”, while adding that he isn’t surprised that North Korea has shifted focus to hydrogen weaponry.
It wasn’t clear what they were doing, but they could be involved in trying to determine what kind of nuclear device North Korea detonated.
But even if the North exploded a boosted fission bomb, its explosive yield, estimated at six kilotons, showed the test was likely a failure, a South Korean defense official said Thursday.
South Korea estimates the bomb has a power equal to 6,000-7,000 tons of TNT.
With the development of an H-bomb, reclusive North Korea would be that much more of a threat.
“We have now joined the rank of advanced nuclear states”, it said, adding that the test was of a miniaturised device.
The test took place two days ahead of what is believed to be North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s birthday.
“Fresh thinking and new ideas about how to engage North Korea beyond simple carrots and sticks diplomacy are clearly required”.
However China’s initiatives to establish its global leadership and North Korea’s demand to be recognized as a nuclear power may have caused conflicts between the two countries, as recently evidenced by the Moranbong band’s sudden departure from Beijing previous year on December 12.
USA intelligence-gathering aircraft have been taking off from an American air base in southern Japan, according to The Associated Press.
“We are conducting additional collection and analysis of data”.
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Upsetting those nations? Well that’s effectively a badge of honour for North Korea…as far as the regime concerned, it’s mission accomplished.
