United States flies B-52 bomber near North Korea after nuclear test

“This was a demonstration of the ironclad U.S. commitment to our allies in South Korea, in Japan, and to the defense of the American homeland”, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement.

 South Korean special envoy Hwang Joon-kook will meet his Japanese and United States counterparts in Seoul on Wednesday to hold “in-depth talks” on possible diplomatic responses to the North’s nuclear weapon test, its first since 2013 and fourth overall.

Kim said the test was an act of “self-defence”.

Asked if such a step might spur North Korea, which last week conducted its fourth nuclear test, to move more aggressively on their own atomic weapons program, the official replied: “That’s a distinct possibility”.

The US B-52 Stratofortress bomber, escorted by an F-16 fighter aircraft, took off from Andersen airbase in Guam and was escorted by one of Seoul’s F-15 fighters during its flight over the Osan airbase.

“No additional information we’ve gained since last week have led us to a different conclusion that we had last week, which is that there is no evidence that this was a hydrogen bomb test that the North claimed it was”, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

The test angered China, the North’s main ally, which was not given advance notice, and the United States.

North Korea has expanded propaganda broadcasts in border areas in response to South Korea’s resumption of such broadcasts, a Seoul official said on Monday. The tone of Kim’s comments, which sought to glorify him and justify the test, is typical of state media propaganda.

In addition to its psycological warfare, Seoul is also going to restrict the entry of South Korean workers into the joint Kaesong industrial complex.

This is despite South Korea and the U.S. both urging China, which wields considerable economic power over North Korea as its largest trade partner, to do more to rein in the Kim regime.

They echo an official commentary published late Friday, which cited toppled leaders Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Moamer Kadhafi in Libya as examples of what happens when countries forsake their nuclear ambitions. South Korea is also arranging a meeting with Russia’s top negotiator for the six-way talks.

Current tensions seemed harder to be lowered than in August past year as South Korea and other countries are pushing for other retaliatory measures like tough UN Security Council sanctions on Pyongyang.

The commander of combined forces, Curtis Scaparrotti, made the order during a visit to the Osan Air Base which is operated jointly by the US and South Korea, a United States Forces Korea (USFK) official said.