Compare these explanations to that given by North Korea for its latest test. “This test is a measure for self-defence”, the official statement said, “to firmly protect the sovereignty of the country and the vital right of the nation from the ever-growing nuclear threat and blackmail”, and “to reliably safeguard the peace on the Korean Peninsula and regional security”.
Advertisement
As reported by the New York Times, the White House said that any kind of nuclear test is “provocative and a flagrant violation” of the UNSC resolutions.
Sue Mi Terry, who worked as a Central Intelligence Agency analyst focused on North Korea, said Wednesday that she wasn’t surprised at all about an announcement that North Korea had tested a nuclear weapon.
Seismic information suggests that North Korea tested a weapon with a comparable explosive yield to the nuclear device the country detonated in 2013 – a 10-kiloton bomb that created a fireball one-fifth of a mile wide.
North Korea’s nuclear test would strengthen USA resolve, Kerry said, adding Washington is to cooperate closely with the U.N. Security Council and member states of the six-party talks in order to take appropriate action.
On Wednesday morning local time, North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen bomb.
The State media announced the test after monitors detected a 5.1 magnitude quake close to the Punggye-ri site.
The H-bomb test is the fourth nuclear test by the country, which has previously conducted three nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013 respectively.
Combined with its secrecy and seclusion, North Korea’s us-against-the-world perspective and the fact it doesn’t play by traditional rules make it unpredictable at best and risky at worst.
“Beijing will face increased pressure both domestically and internationally to punish and rein in Kim Jong Un and to ultimately force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons…”
“Will any of their steps do anything to restrain North Korea?” he mused. “The Security Council has a key role to play in holding North Korea accountable by imposing a tough, comprehensive, and credible package of new sanctions, and by ensuring rigorous enforcement of the resolutions it has already adopted”, she said.
A barbed wire fence at a military check point near the demilitarized zone separates South Korea and North Korea on January 6, 2016, in Paju, South Korea.
And that’s another reason for US officials to be even more wary about the intentions of North Korea – and Iran.
Republican lawmakers called for a new approach to North Korea.
North Korea is banned from conducting nuclear tests under a series of resolutions the Security Council has adopted in recent years.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of worldwide relations at Renmin University of China, said that the test left China no choice but to back further United Nations sanctions against North Korea.
But its conventional weaponry is dated, with limited effectiveness, and it has looked to developing its nuclear capabilities to project power internationally.
“If Canada continues to rely on nuclear weapons for its security, can it really credibly argue that others shouldn’t?” asked Beatrice Fihn of The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Advertisement
“South Korea is a money machine. It is hard to prove it does not”.
