The US and weapons experts voiced doubts the device North Korea tested on Wednesday was a hydrogen bomb, but calls mounted for more sanctions against it for its rogue nuclear programme. Speaking to reporters, U.N. Security Council President Elbio Rosselli also indicated that “further measures” would be taken in a new Security Council resolution.In a conversation with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to take all necessary measures to defend the country, reiterating America’s commitment to its ally.
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“Our military is at a state of full readiness, and if North Korea wages provocation, there will be firm punishment”, said Senior Presidential National Security official Cho Tae-yong, according to the Associated Press.
– South Korea decides to retaliate over the nuke test by restarting from Friday anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts along its border with the North for the first time in almost five months.
When South Korea briefly resumed propaganda broadcasts in August after an 11-year break, the two Koreas ended up threatening each other with attacks that brought them to the brink of war.
Whatever the motivation, North Korea could present a real danger to the global community and its actions need to be put a stop to.
Kim Ki Nam’s comments, which are in line with routine propaganda rhetoric, were the North’s first official response to the South’s broadcasts, which it considers insulting.
The legislation was passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last February but it was stalled until this week’s underground nuclear bomb test.
In the past, South Korea has particularly irritated North Korea by also broadcasting K-pop – Korean pop music that has gained a worldwide following for its distinctive sound – over the border, puncturing the isolated Communist state’s media blackout. Yun pushed Wang to “sternly punish” North Korea over the test, the South Korean foreign ministry said. Nuclear-tipped missiles could then be used as deterrents and diplomatic bargaining chips – especially against the United States, which Pyongyang has long pushed to withdraw its troops from the region and to sign a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War.
– Seoul’s spy agency quickly disputes North Korea’s claim, saying that the seismic event was too small for an H-bomb, which is dramatically more destructive than an atomic bomb, but also much more hard to make. More recently, Seoul said Pyongyang was likely behind the hack of a nuclear power plant.
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Despite their old friendship, China opposes the North’s nuclear programme and has supported sweeping United Nations sanctions on North Korea for its weapons development.
