UN detects ‘unusual seismic event’ in N. Korea

The United States should respond to North Korea’s likely nuclear test by deploying missile defense systems in South Korea and strengthening its defenses at home, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday.

The six-party process, involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russian Federation, has been in limbo since 2007 and Pyongyang’s decision to move ahead with a fourth test has nearly certainly hammered the final nail in its coffin.

China strongly urges North Korea to honour its commitment to denuclearisation, and to cease any action that may deteriorate the situation, Hua said.

Atomic weapons like those previously tested byNorth Korea rely on nuclear fission to release energy – basically splitting atoms. The North might instead have tested a so-called boosted-fission bomb – which involves placing a tiny amount of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, at the core of an atomic bomb, but is more destructive than a traditional nuclear weapon.

National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the USA was working “in close coordination with our regional partners”. If the tests are confirmed, it shows that Obama isn’t willing to stand up to North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, Rubio wrote in a statement Tuesday night.

“If it were a real H-bomb, the Richter Scale reading should have been about a hundred times more powerful than what we saw, which would have been in the range of seven or so”, he told AFP. Some analysts were doubtful, saying the young leader appeared primarily concerned with trying to bolster his legitimacy.

North Korea said Wednesday it had detonated a hydrogen bomb, after conducting a fourth nuclear test that marks a potentially significant advance in its military power, according to the report.

A hydrogen, or thermonuclear device, uses fusion in a chain reaction.

North Korea has been under UN Security Council sanctions due to its nuclear weapons program since it first tested an atomic device in 2006.

While vowing to stick by a no-first use policy, today’s statement said Pyongyang would continue to pursue an advanced nuclear strike capability.

An anchor for state-run Korean Central Television announced news of the alleged bomb test midday local time Wednesday, according to NK News.

“I think they have a technological path in mind”, said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif.

A South Korean spy agency cast doubt over whether the North’s bomb was indeed a powerful hydrogen bomb, the South’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

The U.N. Security Council is set to meet later in the day to discuss the development.

The U.S Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the seismic activity at 5.1 on its website.

China joined the US, Russia, the European Union and others in condemning the action as a breach of global law and the UN Security Council tentatively scheduled an emergency meeting later on Wednesday at the behest of the US and Japan.