UN agency says nuclear test is breach of treaty

The suspicions over a plausible nuclear detonation were eminent when seismologists detected a 5.1 magnitude tremor next to its main atomic test site in the northeast of the country. In a hydrogen bomb, radiation from a nuclear fission explosion sets off a fusion reaction responsible for a powerful blast and radioactivity.

Seoul denounced Pyongyang’s hydrogen bomb test as a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions.

An quake in North Korea may have been a nuclear test, regional officials said Wednesday (local time), based on past experience.

The agency measured the magnitude of the seismic activity at 5.1 on its website on Wednesday.

The surprise test was personally ordered by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and came just two days before his birthday.

Researchers at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University indicated last month that recent satellite photos showed North Korea was digging a new tunnel at Punggye-ri.

“It is also a grave threat to worldwide peace and security”, he said. Nearly four years later, Pyongyang tested additional nuclear weapons. This program has yielded three nuclear tests. Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook.

In 2005, North Korea declared itself a nuclear power, and conducted several nuclear weapons tests, sparking concerns in the global community, particularly in neighboring South Korea. Pyongyang has also restarted a plutonium nuclear reactor shuttered after a 2007 nuclear deal that later fell apart. We will continue to protect our allies in the region, including South Korea, and will respond appropriately to any and all the provocations of North Korea, it said in a statement.

Meanwhile in the United States, the White House was cautiously monitoring North Korea’s announcement.

North Korea needs nuclear tests for practical military and political reasons.

The Korean Peninsula remains technically at war, as the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice.

The test comes amid failed diplomatic efforts to persuade the North to give up its nuclear ambitions.

AP writer Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this story from Seoul.