US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, on a visit to Norway, also reaffirmed an “iron-clad” commitment to defend South Korea and condemned the North Korean test on Friday as a direct challenge to the entire global community.
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The US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, which had warned on Thursday of “new activity” at Punggye-ri, said the latest test made plain that the US and South Korean strategy on restraining North Korea “has clearly failed”. President Barrack Obama had also spoken with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye regarding the latest test.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that “artificial seismic waves” measuring magnitude-5.0 were detected near the Punggye-ri test site, and officials were analyzing whether it was a nuclear test.
Earlier in the week, North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, the South Korean and USA militaries said, as the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies held a summit in China.
“We strongly urge the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to honour the commitment to denuclearisation, abide by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and halt any moves that could aggravate the situation”, China’s Foreign Ministry said, using the country’s official name.
Tests suggest this is the most powerful nuclear test conducted by North Korea to date. A credible USA policy toward North Korea must include the designation of Chinese entities responsible for aiding in the DPRK’s proliferation activities.
European and U.S. monitoring services also detected similar seismic activity, with the U.S. Geological Survey calling it an “explosion” on its website.
Today’s nuclear test, a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions, makes clear North Korea’s disregard for global norms and standards for behavior and demonstrates it has no interest in being a responsible member of the worldwide community.
“I believe China will be driven into the most hard position” as the global community expects Beijing to act to ease tensions, said Shunji Hiraiwa, professor at Kwansei Gakuin University and an expert on the Korean peninsula. It conducted its second nuclear test of the year Friday, this time to indicate it can arm those ballistic missiles it’s been testing with nuclear-tipped warheads.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a robust increase in the number and kinds of missiles tested this year.
North Korea has fired a total of 33 ballistic missiles since Kim took power in 2011, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said.
First off, it was timed to coincide with North Korea’s National Day on September 9. The North’s fourth test was an estimated six kilotons.
In the immediate aftermath of the suspected test, North Korean state television did not mention the event, and instead showed archive footage of the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung, and his son and former leader Kim Jong Il.
It is impossible to verify North Korea’s claim to have mastered the technology to fit warheads to missiles, as that proof would only come with a test.
This test follows the January detonation of a device the North claimed was a hydrogen bomb, which led to wide condemnation and tougher worldwide sanctions.
The blast, that occured after the nuclear test, was more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
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“(North Korea) is being opportunistic and taking advantage of the current troubles between China and the United States”, said Zhao.
