USA and S Korea pledge sanctions against N Korea

USA officials said the administration at all levels is stressing to China that it should be very concerned that North Korea did not warn China about the test ahead of time, thus illustrating the danger of the regime’s unpredictability.

Seoul said it would resume propaganda broadcasts using batteries of giant speakers along the border with North Korea from noon (0300 GMT) on Friday.

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, called North Korea’s announcement “profoundly destabilising for regional security”.

China’s approach to North Korea has failed and it is time to end “business as usual” with Pyongyang after its latest nuclear test, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said today.

South Korea also said Thursday it will limit entry to a jointly run factory park in North Korea, the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

MONTAGNE: Well, just briefly – we just have a few seconds, but what impact have sanctions had on North Korea?

At the meeting in Austria’s capital, more than 50 countries made statements on North Korea’s nuclear test.

North Korea’s latest bomb test is seen by some as one other act – political purges of scores of political figures is yet another – by a leader wishing to assert his supremacy to his people and the world. The South Korean military runs about a dozen facilities scattered near the DMZ, with each facility equipped with a bank of 48 loudspeakers.

North Korea previously carried out tests on nuclear devices in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

But the North is already under layers of sanctions imposed following its past missile launches and three nuclear tests, and analysts have questioned what real impact fresh penalties will really have.

The Washington Post reported the U.S. Air Force is expected to deploy “sniffer planes” to test for radiation near North Korea.

A camera on the border of China and North Korea shakes after the bomb allegedly goes off.

It is unclear, however, whether the samples include enough radioactive materials that would help verify the North’s claims, they said. Its prime minister, Shinzo Abe, agreed with US President Barack Obama in a telephone call that a firm global response was needed, the White House said.

A South Korean military official said the two countries had discussed the deployment of U.S. strategic assets on the divided Korean peninsula.

The U.S. State Department confirmed North Korea had conducted a nuclear test but the Obama administration disputed the hydrogen bomb claim.

On Wednesday, the White House expressed doubt over Pyongyang’s claims, citing inconsistency between the data obtained and North Korea’s allegations.