The six-party talks involve South Korea, the DPRK, China, the United States, Japan and Russian Federation.
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The nuclear test raised tensions in north Asia. U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, now in Yokosuka, Japan, is widely expected to be deployed on the peninsula during the U.S.-South Korea joint annual war games scheduled to kick off in February.
While receiving global condemnation for the test, many commentators have doubted the veracity of Pyongyang’s nuclear claims.
North Korea’s recent nuclear test has further strained its relationship with China, its key provider of economic aid and trade.
Speaking to the scientists responsible for building what North Korea said was a hydrogen bomb, Kim said it was his “expectation and conviction” they would advance their research, the official Korean Central News Agency said on Monday.
The tone of Kim’s comments, which sought to glorify him and justify the test, is typical of state media propaganda.
USA forces in South Korea have been put on their highest alert in case of any further provocation from North Korea following its nuclear test last week.
The news from North Korea reignited fears in the global community over Pyongyang’s efforts to build a warhead small enough to be mounted on a missile and capable of reaching the shores of the mainland US. Many outside governments and experts question whether the blast was a powerful hydrogen test.
A standoff between the rival Koreas has deepened since last week’s test, the North’s fourth.
Following the test, South Korea resumed broadcasting propaganda from speakers mounted on the border and the North countered with similar broadcasts. Another group of 269 South Koreans have been permitted to enter Kaesong on Saturday. But it is also indicative of the real fury that the broadcasts, which criticise the country’s revered dictatorship, cause in the North.
North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers’ Party, said the U.S. was bringing the situation to the brink of war.
Seoul’s defence spokesman said North Korea had deployed more troops to frontline border units.
Daily life was mostly as normal on the South Korean side of the border on Sunday.
Seoul also announced additional restrictions on the movement of its citizens to the jointly-run Kaesong industrial park, just a few kilometers (miles) over the border inside North Korea.
Though barely audible from the South, North Korea’s broadcasts included anti-South segments as well as praise of Kim Jong Un.
On Monday, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Pyongyang has expanded its own loudspeaker broadcasts against Seoul.
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North Korea’s military, the backbone of the Kim regime, will be hit hard in particular, he said, noting that Russian crude supplies have been halted since the early 1990s.
