Pentagon discussing options with South Korea after North’s nuclear test

As “Armenpress” reports, citing BBC, the move is expected to anger North Korea, which has reportedly moved more troops to the border region.

That crisis escalated after Pyongyang had declared a “semi-state of war” and fired shots in the direction of the speakers and had threatened to hit them with artillery if Seoul did not halt the broadcasts. Cho Tae-yong from the South Korean government said the North’s test claim was a “grave violation” of the deal. That reaches numerous huge force of North Korean soldiers stationed near the border and also residents in border towns such as Kaesong, where the Koreas jointly operate an industrial park that has been a valuable cash source for the impoverished North.

A visitor uses binoculars to see North Korean territory from the unification observatory in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.

China’s Environmental Protection Ministry has also been evaluating the impact of the test and analyzing the radiation data collected along the border. “This test once again violates numerous Security Council resolutions”. As we reported, South Korea also questioned the claim.

South Korea’s spy service said it thought the estimated explosive yield from the blast was much smaller than what even a failed hydrogen bomb detonation would produce.

What do we know about the latest test?

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said in a statement on Wednesday that seismic activity in North Korea took place near the country’s nuclear test site. Meanwhile, pressure was mounting in Washington for congressional action to punish North Korea.

His citizens have held a giant rally, with a crowd of what the organisers said was 100,000 on central Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square to demonstrate support for their country’s nuclear test this week. Crucially, its main ally, China, has proved either unwilling or unable to help.

It’s not – the readings are not large enough for it to be a hydrogen bomb. The two nations have technically been at war since the 1950s.

South Korea declared that it would restart it’s anti-North propaganda campaign in response to Pyongyang’s claim of successfully testing a hydrogen bomb.

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 didn’t immediately react, but its response could be especially harsh because of the high emotions surrounding the likely birthday of Kim, who is believed to be in his early 30s.

“North Korea is used to sanctions and not afraid”, the source said, adding that the latest test pointed to advances in its weapons.

The US and nearby countries including Japan are carrying out atmospheric sampling, hoping to find leaked radioactive material, which would give clues as to what kind of device was tested.