The big question, though, is whether Pyongyang can make warheads small and light enough to be armed on a missile that can reach the mainland United States – much more advanced technology.
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Then, on Friday, it said it had “standardized” nuclear warheads so that it could produce “a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power”.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye, in Laos after a summit of Asian leaders ended there on Thursday, said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was showing “maniacal recklessness” in completely ignoring the world’s call to abandon his pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo called the tests a frightening, unfortunate and serious breach of the norms adopted by the worldwide community. “Such provocation will eventually hasten its path to self-destruction”.
China, Pyongyang’s main diplomatic ally, is key in any effort to rein in North Korea’s nuclear programme. Beijing has been going easy with Pyongyang on its nuclear or missile tests and is said to have reacted moderately so far. He added that “new sanctions are indispensable”.
South Korea’s military put the force of the blast at 10 kilotonnes, which would still be the North’s most powerful nuclear blast to date. They called the event an “artificial” quake.
Earlier in the day, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan also held a three-party video conference to discuss ways to beef up cooperative measures and the mutual exchange of information regarding North Korea.
That test was recorded with a magnitude of 5.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Within hours of the test, North Korea’s neighbors were scrambling to respond.
Some South Korean newspapers still flirted with doomsday scenarios.
Stephen Schwartz, an independent nuclear weapons expert, said that North Korea’s statement about the test suggested that the detonated nuclear device employed a composite fissile core that used both plutonium and highly enriched uranium, which, if true, would enable the North to build more nuclear weapons than would be otherwise possible with plutonium or uranium alone.
China’s environment ministry began emergency radiation monitoring along its northeastern border with North Korea, the state broadcaster CCTV reported on its official Sina Weibo microblog.
Cha says data that CSIS has collected make it clear the 45th US president will be dealing with Pyongyang sooner rather than later.
“The global community needs to deal with North Korea firmly and make Pyongyang understand the costs of taking such provocative action”, Mr. Abe told Mr. Obama in a 10-minute telephone conversation, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In March, the Security Council adopted its toughest sanctions against North Korea in two decades in response to a nuclear test in January and a rocket launch.
“We believe it is more urgent than ever to work together to achieve de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula (and) “to prevent proliferation and. maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula”.
The North’s announcement of its test indicated they had tested the bomb that would arm their missile units, said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
“Now, I am full of confidence that if the enemies make any little provocations we will make a counter attack and we will surely win”, said Rim Jong Su, 42. Beijing strongly condemned the test, but has limited room to maneuver. Chinese leaders fear that instability in Pyongyang could precipitate a flood of refugees into northeastern China and push a US -friendly unified Korea right up to China’s doorstep.
“Owning nuclear weapons won’t ensure North Korea’s political security”, it said in an editorial.
She also said she thinks there’s a role for more sanctions. Six-nation negotiations on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program in exchange for aid were last held in late 2008 and fell apart in early 2009.
South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo also held a phone conversation with his USA and Japanese counterparts, vowing to strengthen cooperation in sanctioning North Korea.
“Rather than hanging on to the fantasy that Pyongyang can be cajoled into relinquishing its nuclear weapons, the United States should consider adopting a more traditional deterrent policy against North Korea”.
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It condemned January’s test and repeated that on Friday after the latest.
