North Korea conducted its fifth and biggest nuclear test on Friday and said it had mastered the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile, ratcheting up a threat that its rivals and the United Nations have been powerless to contain.
Advertisement
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says North Korea’s fifth nuclear test, if confirmed, is in clear violation of numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions and in complete disregard of the repeated demands of the international community.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, an natural disaster of magnitude 5.3 was observed in an area near Punggye-ri, where North Korea’s nuclear test site is located.
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon). quake and Volcano of the Korea Monitoring Division Director Ryoo Yong-gyu speaks in front of a screen showing seismic waves that were measured in South Korea, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016.
North Korea is believed to have carried out its fifth nuclear test on Friday in a costly attempt to maintain its existence at the risk of further isolating itself from the worldwide community. “If this is indeed an explosion, the USGS National Earthquake Information Center can not determine what type of explosion it may be, whether nuclear or any other possible type”.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said the North Korean leader was showing “maniacal recklessness” in ignoring the world’s call to abandon his pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“We are now analyzing whether it was a successful test”, a South Korean defense ministry official told CNN.
US President Barack Obamaon Friday warned that the latest nuclear test conducted by North Korea will have serious consequences.
China said on Friday that it resolutely opposed North Korea’s nuclear test but was unlikely to follow up with strong action because its influence was limited and it believed the United States and South Korea shared responsibility for growing tension in the region.
“The only thing that Kim Jong Un regime can gain from the nuclear tests is stronger sanctions from the worldwide community and its isolation”. He didn’t refer to Friday’s event as a nuclear test.
Kim has overseen a robust increase in the number and kinds of missiles tested this year. The test was apparently an attempt to display the country’s national prestige. After several failures, it put its first satellite into space with a long-range rocket launched in December 2012, and has since had another such successful launch.
More now are nearly certain, though some experts question whether North Korea has anything significant left to apply effective sanctions to.
North Korea said there was no radioactive material leaked, but the explosion put the region on edge. “This is our response to hostile powers, including the US”. And last month, a missile from a North Korean submarine flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles), the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon.
China has provided cover to North Korea from worldwide denunciations of its nuclear program.
Whether the latest test involved a nuclear warhead is still unknown.
Advertisement
“The government acknowledges that it failed to stop the development of North Korean nukes despite making various efforts”.
