North Korea said it has carried out a successful “nuclear warhead explosion” test to counter what it called U.S. hostility, North Korean state TV reported, angering neighbours and the United States.
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Reuters said earlier today that North Korea said it successfully conducted a nuclear test, its most powerful blast yet, and that it had the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile.
The UN Security Council has said “significant measures” will be taken against North Korea after the secretive state defied sanctions and performed a nuclear test explosion.
The pre-emptive planning coincides with South Korean lawmakers and nuclear scientists launching a think tank pushing to arm their country with nuclear weapons after North Korea fired off its fifth and biggest nuclear weapon test yet, Yonghap also reported.
The government in Seoul will take “all diplomatic and military efforts to counter North Korea’s continued provocation”, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs Kim Kyou-Hyun told reporters Sunday.
US ambassador Samantha Power urged the council to vigorously promote implementation of four previous sanctions resolutions “to demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences for its unlawful and unsafe actions”.
State-run media in the capital of Pyongyang made a number of assertions Friday, saying North Korea had become a full-fledged nuclear weapons state, had a standardized weapon design and now possessed warheads small enough to be affixed to ballistic missiles.
Kerry said he had talked on Friday to the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea.
Moscow said the North is threatening the security of the Korean Peninsula and the entire region, urging it to stop further testing and join the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. If Pyongyang can bolster the range and accuracy of its missiles, it might achieve its aim of hitting U.S. targets.
China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection on Friday activated its contingency plan to monitor a possible increase in radiation levels along its northeastern border after seismic activity was detected in North Korea. It said it would lodge a protest with the North Korean embassy in Beijing.
The Security Council has adopted five resolutions to curb the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs.
So far just in this year, North Korea test-fired a total of 21 ballistic missiles, including those launched from a submarine.
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World leaders and ministries including United States president Barack Obama and China’s foreign ministry have condemned the test.
