“Our party will not condone North Korea’s nuclear test”, Yoo Eung-hae, spokeswoman of the party, said, further asking the global community to show support so that the peace can be maintained on the peninsula. The regime “has confidently risen to the ranks of nuclear powers with hydrogen bombs by perfectly succeeding in the historic test of a hydrogen bomb”, Korean Central Television anchorwoman Ri Chun Hui said.
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North Korea plans a major announcement later Wednesday morning, South Korean media said.
Neighbouring South Korea’s National Security Council “strongly condemned” the test, while Japanese Prime Minister described it as a “great threat” that represented a gross violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Confirmation of the detonation elevates the reclusive regime’s nuclear program toward the top of the global diplomatic agenda, with Kim possibly seeking to use the tensions to demand economic and political concessions from South Korea and the US.
Meanwhile, Chinese and South Korean officials, speculated that the natural disaster was “man-made”.
The nuclear test came two days ahead of what is believed to be Kim’s birthday.
More than 160 countries have ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) since 1996.
Even, the US Geological Survey confirmed that, the epicentre of the tremor, was in the north east of the country, taking place some 30 miles north west of Kilju city.
The North conducted underground nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
“The nuclear test that was carried out by North Korea is a serious threat to the safety of our nation and we absolutely can not tolerate this”, he said.
A 2013 explosion registered a 5.1 magnitude tremor.
“Let the world look up to the strong, self-reliant nuclear-armed state”, Kim wrote in what North Korean state TV displayed as a handwritten note.
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Earlier in the day, the China Earthquake Network Center said a 4.9-magnitude earthquake jolted the DPRK at 0130 GMT at a depth of 0 km.
