Seoul resumes anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts

North Korea’s fourth nuclear test on Wednesday angered the United States and China, which was not given prior notice, although the USA government and weapons experts doubt the North’s claim that the device it set off was a hydrogen bomb.

South Korea retaliated for North Korea’s nuclear test with broadcasts of anti-Pyongyang propaganda across the rival’s border.

That spat escalated into what North Korea called a “semi-state of war” that was cooled by marathon talks at a border village where Mr Kim’s officials agreed to halt the mobilization of forces.

“Wang Yi stressed that China has staunchly dedicated itself to the goal of the peninsula’s denuclearization and to maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula”, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The South’s Yonhap news agency said Seoul had deployed missiles, artillery and other weapons systems near the border to swiftly deal with any possible North Korean provocation, but the ministry did not confirm the reports.

However, the call had been delayed due to China’s “internal scheduling”, it said, citing an unidentified official. US Congressmen see forcing China to cut ties with North Korea would be a way to crack down on them after the test, and suggested sanctioning Chinese banks that do business with North Korea.

Yonhap also reported that North Korea had boosted troop deployments and raised its surveillance of the South.

South Korea’s birthday gift to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, who is believed to have turned 33 today, was to turn its loudspeakers back on and denigrate his wife.

South Korea used the speakers for the first time in more than a decade a year ago in retaliation for a border attack that maimed two of its soldiers.

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

A South Korea defence ministry official said: “We have selected a diverse range of the most recent popular hits to make it interesting”. Besides the U.N. Security Council, the topic of dealing with North Korea will likely be taken up with meetings related to the summit of industrialized nations in Mie Prefecture in May.

North Korea is already heavily sanctioned.

Leader of the Democratic minority, Nancy Pelosi of California, promised Thursday there will be strong bipartisan support for the legislation tabled by the top Republican and Democrat lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would target access to hard currency and other goods and step up inspections of North Korean cargo.

Kerry rejected a reporter’s suggestion that the Obama administration had neglected the North Korean threat as it focused on curbing Iran’s nuclear program.

The move was a clear violation of the six-point inter-Korean agreement struck on August 25, in which the South promised to pull the plug on the broadcasts as long as there was no “unusual activity” from Pyongyang.

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.