South Korea, while commenting on North’s action of conducting nuclear test, said that Kim Jon-un was showing “maniacal recklessness”.
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A magnitude 5 quake was detected near the North Korea’s nuclear site of Punggye-ri in its northeastern region at around 9:30 a.m., Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
The announcement came hours after seismologists detected a 5.3-magnitude tremor near the site of its previous nuclear tests.
That marked Pyongyang’s fifth nuclear test in defiance of United Nations resolutions that ban the country from conducting nuclear tests or carrying out ballistic missile launches.
Artificial seismic waves measuring 3.9 were reported after North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006 and a 4.8 was reported from the fourth test this January, CBS News reported. The North later confirmed that it has successfully conducted a nuclear detonation test.
Melissa Hanham, a North Korea expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said it was not possible from seismic data to tell if it was a warhead.
It acknowledged that North Korea’s action was “not wise”, but also noted that Seoul’s recent decision to deploy an advanced United States anti-missile system had also damaged stability in the region.
President Park chose to return to South Korea some four hours earlier than scheduled, right after holding a bilateral summit with Laotian counterpart.
The Japanese government has lodged an official protest against the nuclear test, which was sent to Pyongyang via Chinese diplomatic channels, Kyodo News Agency reported.
A spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, Ned Price, says Washington is aware of seismic activity on the Korean Peninsula in the vicinity of a known North Korean nuclear test site. It is the country’s fifth nuclear test.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende also condemned Pyongyang’s nuclear test, saying in a tweet that “this unacceptable action causes deep concern and threatens peace”.
South Korean amphibious vehicles fire smoke shells on the 66th anniversary of the start of Operation Chromite, the battle that turned the tide in the Korean War, in the western port city of Incheon, September 9, 2016.
Kim Jong Un also called North Korea a responsible nuclear state. “We are monitoring and continuing to assess the situation in close coordination with our regional partners”, an NSC statement said. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook is traveling Friday in Norway with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
“We strongly urge the DPRK side …”
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North Korea claimed its January test was of a miniaturised hydrogen bomb, which can be far more powerful than other nuclear devices. Instead, the regime has stepped up the pace of missile tests in recent months as it pushes forward with its stated goal of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the US mainland.
