North Korea says it has conducted H-bomb test

The hydrogen bomb test would be the fourth nuclear test by North Korea since 2006.

“North Korea appears to have had a hard time mastering even the basics of a fission weapon”, he said. “But it is not a true fusion bomb capable of the massive multi-megaton yields these bombs produce”.

Abe also said Japan will work with the US, South Korea, China and Russian Federation to cope with the issue.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the seismic activity at 5.1 on its website. The Security Council will meet later on Wednesday to discuss what steps it could take, diplomats said.

But China’s leverage over Pyongyang is mitigated, analysts say, by its overriding fear of a North Korean collapse and the prospect of a reunified, US-allied Korea directly on its border.

North Korea’s last nuclear test was in February 2013.

North Korea is believed to have three types of operational ballistic missiles, with a maximum range of 800 miles.

Last year, President Park Geun-hye warned that there will certainly be a price to be paid if North Korea goes ahead with provocative actions that violate the U.N. Security Council resolutions.

“Regarding the situation, South Korea and the USA are closely cooperating”, the defence ministry said, adding that it has also launched an emergency crisis management body.

If confirmed, it would mean Pyongyang is intent on pursuing its nuclear programme with little regard for the major political and diplomatic costs that will inevitably accompany this unwelcome development, says Dr John Nilsson-Wright of Asia Programme at Chatham House.

The test is bound to ratchet up tensions between the isolated country and its neighbours as well as Washington.

North Korea’s 2013 test triggered sanctions from the UN Security Council, which put restrictions on the county’s banking, trade and travel immediately.

According to a channel, the China Earthquake Network Centre gave the depth of today’s quake as zero kilometres, noting it was registered at nearly precisely 9.30am Beijing time.

The North said in a broadcast that the test was successful.

Xinhua commentaries are not official government pronouncements, but can be read as a reflection of official thinking.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described the test as a “provocation” and a “grave breach” of United Nations resolutions.

An announcer on state TV said North Korea had tested a “miniaturised” hydrogen bomb, elevating the country’s “nuclear might to the next level” and providing it with a weapon to defend against the USA and its other enemies.

Cho said that the government will maintain water-tight defense readiness against any possible DPRK provocations that pose threat to its people’s lives and the country’s security.

Pyongyang is under U.S. and United Nations sanctions for its nuclear program. Following is a review of the country’s previous nuclear tests.