U.S. calls on China to get tough with North Korea

Over the hills by Gimpo city bordering the North, broadcasts from one of 11 banks of high-power speakers set up along the border spared no criticism of leader Kim Jong Un, who was believed to have turned 33 on Friday.

The U.N. Security Council held an emergency session and pledged to swiftly pursue new sanctions against North Korea, saying its test was a “clear violation” of previous U.N. resolutions.

Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the issue with Foreign Minister Wang Yi during telephone talks in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear test, he told reporters at the State Department.

China, the North’s main ally and trade partner, also is coming under increasing pressure to intervene more robustly.

Kerry said that China had promised to work on this and the United States agreed on the Chinese plan of action.

On Wednesday, the White House said it has not revised its assessment of North Korea’s military capabilities.

Given that the broadcasts escalated a crisis in August, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond asked South Korea to stop and give the worldwide community a chance to impose effective sanctions against North Korea.

In a separate development Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet based in Yokosuka, Japan, said the Navy was watching North Korea closely. A congressional source said it was expected as soon as Monday.

“Vietnam resolutely supports denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, a comprehensive ban on the tests of nuclear bombs and the removal of any such kind of weapons”, the Spokesperson said.

The Seoul government said Thursday it will only permit South Korean businessmen directly involved in the operation of the factories to enter the park “for the time being”. It would also penalize those involved in business providing North Korea with hard currency.

Washington and nuclear experts have been sceptical of past North Korean claims about hydrogen bombs, which are much more powerful and much more hard to make than atomic bombs.

Kerry did not elaborate on what the USA government wants China to do next.

The United States and South Korea are limited in their military response.

“The nuclear test is making North Korea more isolated and turning it into the land of death”, an announcer said.

North Korea responded then by threatening a nuclear strike on the United States.