But since that measure was adopted, North Korea has carried out 21 ballistic missile launches, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said, describing those tests and Pyongyang’s second nuclear detonation this year as “more than brazen defiance”.
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“We will be working very closely in the Security Council and beyond to come up with the strongest possible measure against North Korea’s latest actions”, said USA envoy Sung Kim on Sunday.
On Friday, North Korea confirmed that it carried out the nuclear test as a response to worldwide sanctions against the country for its nuclear tests and rocket launch earlier this year.
North Korea’s nuclear test is a risky affront to the worldwide community and a serious threat to regional security, says New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully.
A military source told the Yonhap news agency every part of Pyongyang “will be completely destroyed by ballistic missiles and high-explosives shells”.
Kimball from the Arms Control Association said North Korea has not yet demonstrated the ability to launch a medium- or long-range missile that can re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and is still years away from having an intercontinental ballistic missile that can deliver a nuclear warhead that can hit the continental U.S.
The latest test was announced on state TV hours after a 5.3 magnitude tremor was detected near the Punggye-ri underground nuclear site.
Several resolutions issued by the United Nations, couldn’t stop the nuclear tests, the global community must unite to stave off reckless acts by the regime of Kim Jong Un.
South Korea has accused the North’s leader Kim Jong-un of “maniacal recklessness”.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter called for further pressure on North Korea, but said China bore responsibility for tackling the problem.
Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute in Seongnam, south of Seoul, argued that a South Korean nuclear program might distract North Korea from its efforts to build a long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead overseas.
But in a defiant response via the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, Pyongyang said the USA was “exasperated by the strong military steps” it wwas taking.
Kerry said he had talked on Friday to the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea.
North Korea says its “standardization” of a warhead will allow it to produce “at will and as many as it wants a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power”.
His remarks were also apparently aimed at dispelling Japan’s concerns over USA nuclear deterrence following recent media reports that Obama is considering declaring a “no first use” policy for nuclear weapons by Washington.
The United States said it would work with partners to impose new sanctions, and called on China to use its influence – as North Korea’s main ally – to pressure Pyongyang to end its nuclear programme.
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A separate post also criticised US President Obama for calling the tests “provocative”.
