A resolution was finally reached after North Korea “expressed regret” for the blasts and the South agreed to turn off the loudspeakers in return. They will also coincide with North Korean leader Kim Jung-un’s birthday. Resolving the six-decade confrontation between the U.S. and North Korea, rooted in the 1950 – 53 Korean War, is key to achieving peace and security in the region.
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Experts, meanwhile, are trying to find out more about the detonation that has drawn drew worldwide scepticism and condemnation. But overflights of B-2 bombers and large-scale troop movements will only reinforce Pyongyang’s view of America’s “hostile policy” and make North Korea even more determined to maintain and increase its nuclear deterrent.
China has also been sharply critical of the DPRK’s decision to conduct its fourth nuclear test.
Reacting to the test, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: “I call on North Korea to fully respect its worldwide obligations and commitments”.
Japan’s U.N. Ambassador Motohide Yoshikawa speaks during a press conference after attending a Security Council meeting on North Korea, Jan. 6, 2016 at U.N. headquarters. “There are some people out there, some interested parties who have strong links to the media; they have strong links with the banking system and the military and when there are overthrow of governments I don’t think even the president knows what is going on”.
A South Korean military official said that Seoul and Washington had discussed the deployment of U.S. strategic weapons on the Korean peninsula, but declined to give details. Washington sent a pair of nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea in a show of force after North Korea last tested a nuclear device in 2013.
Diplomats at a U.N. Security Council emergency session pledged to swiftly pursue new sanctions.
Four rounds of United Nations sanctions have aimed at reining in the North’s nuclear and missile development programs, but Pyongyang has ignored them and moved ahead to modernize its ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. The broadcasts aired over the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for the first time in 11 years following the explosion of land mines on the south side of the border, leaving two soldiers disabled.
The broadcasts related to the situation in North Korea, the Times story notes, spared no insult for Kim. Senior presidential official Cho Tae-yong said Thursday the broadcast will resume because the North’s bomb test was a violation of the August agreement.
North Korea’s nuclear program may be nascent and Pyongyang could well be lying about its capabilities – but North Korea is the only country in the world now carrying out nuclear tests.
China will be bargaining as well, working to protect North Korea from harsh reprisals and other punitive measures that might be advocated by countries like Japan or South Korea. With its demand for a treaty ignored, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear weapons and a stalemate has ensued.
The North’s 2013 test produced an estimated yield of 6-7 kilotons of explosives, according to South Korean officials.
Hydrogen bombs use a two-step process of fission and fusion that releases substantially more energy than an atomic bomb.
Only five countries are officially known to possess thermonuclear weapons- the US, Russia, Britain, France and China.
If confirmed, it will mark a significant step forward in North Korea’s efforts to build a nuclear arsenal and pose a significant security threat.
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North Korea responded then by threatening a nuclear strike on the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey has already announced a 5.1-magnitude seismic event near previous nuclear tests.
