Britain asks S. Korea to refrain from broadcasts

YANJI, China An ethnic Korean woman in a cafe near China’s border with North Korea said she was terrified on hearing of the North’s announcement this week that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.

Japan and South Korea have also quickly agreed to work together to adopt a United Nations resolution escalating the crippling sanctions imposed on North Korea. South Korean officials said they may restart border propaganda broadcasts that Seoul had halted previous year.

But, we have to be bigger than the North Koreans and I would urge South Korea and other like-minded countries in the region to exercise restraint.

In August 2015, South Korea briefly resumed propaganda broadcasts after accusing North Korea of planting land mines that exploded and maimed two South Korean soldiers.

The UN has agreed to draw up new measures against North Korea.

Meanwhile, pressure was mounting in Washington for congressional action to punish North Korea.

He said his late father and former leader Kim Jong-Il, “turned the DPRK into a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation”.

The UNSC is expected to consider strengthening the existing sanctions such as arms embargoes, interdiction of North Korea-related cargo, financial sanctions and sanctions on particular individuals or entities including North Korean enterprises.

If confirmed, North Korea’s test this week would be its fourth overall nuclear test, and potentially its first hydrogen bomb test.

North Korean officials plan to take CNN’s crew to a science center, where people close to the project will explain the science behind it.

The Alaska Earthquake Center says its equipment picked up seismic activity after North Korea’s claimed detonation of a hydrogen bomb Tuesday.

While Aucoin said some of the North’s hardware is “not very high tech” – specifically mentioning submarines – its nuclear weapons and missiles are a threat.

In a statement, North Korea’s state news agency said it will not give up its nuclear programme as long as the United States maintained what it called “its stance of aggression”.

There is still widespread speculation over what device the North actually did test, but worldwide experts mostly concur that it could not have been a full-scale thermonuclear device as claimed. South Korea had warned the broadcasts would resume.

For fear of possible DPRK provocations like aimed strike at the loudspeakers, the South Korean military deployed troops at the 11 locations on the highest alert.

North Korean government officials told CNN’s Will Ripley – who is in Pyongyang – that they are not afraid of more sanctions; they said that they’ve lived for years with the crippling measures levied against them and are prepared to tighten their belts even more.

President Barack Obama has spoken to South Korean president Park Geun-hye and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and reaffirmed the “unshakeable USA commitment” to the security of the two Asian allies.