Britain’s Hammond urges S Korea not to rise to North’s ‘bait’

North Korea was internationally condemned after it conducted a suspected nuclear test that it claimed was a hydrogen bomb – a claim that if true would mean a significant advancement of its nuclear abilities.

The top USA diplomat, Kerry said he and Wang agreed to work closely to determine what measures could be taken given increasing concerns about the nuclear test. Kerry said America has a “firm and continued commitment to regional security and global nonproliferation”.

Yonhap said Seoul had deployed missiles, artillery and other weapons systems near the border to swiftly deal with any possible North Korean provocation.

According to reports, the propaganda broadcasts from loudspeakers could likely draw an angry response from North Korea, which is extremely sensitive to outside criticisms.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, on a visit to Japan, urged the South and other countries in the region to show restraint.

Seoul stopped earlier broadcasts after it agreed with Pyongyang in late August on a package of measures aimed at easing animosities that had the rivals threatening war.

The source, who has contacts in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and correctly predicted the North’s first nuclear test in 2006, said the tests would go on until the North’s demand for a treaty was met.

But he added: “We have to be bigger than the North Koreans…”

– Seoul’s spy agency quickly disputes North Korea’s claim, saying that the seismic event was too small for an H-bomb, which is dramatically more destructive than an atomic bomb, but also much more hard to make. Pyongyang also promised that North Korea “will steadily escalate its nuclear deterrence of justice both in quality and quantity”.

South Korea, technically in a state of war against the North, said it was not considering a nuclear deterrent of its own, despite calls from ruling party leaders. Since 1998, North Korea has carried out at least five tests of long-range rockets…its most recent focused on a launch from a submarine.

The impoverished state boasts of its military might to project strength globally but also plays up the need to defend itself from external threats as a way to maintain control domestically, analysts say.

All sides should be committed to the peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and avoid escalation of tensions, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.