UNSC ‘strongly condemns’ North Korea’s nuke test

On Wednesday, President Obama reaffirmed the USA commitment to South Korea’s security, and the two leaders agreed to work on a “united and strong worldwide response to North Korea’s latest reckless behavior”, the White House said in a statement.

On Wednesday, there was a burst of jubilation and pride in North Korea’s capital of Pyongyang, where a TV anchor said the test of a “miniaturized” hydrogen bomb had been a “perfect success” that elevated the country’s “nuclear might to the next level”.

The US and South Korea has pledged to mete out the “most powerful” sanctions on the country after saying it tested its first hydrogen bomb. After a nuclear test in 2013, the Security Council took about three weeks to agree a resolution that tightened financial restrictions and cracked down on Pyongyang’s attempts to ship and receive banned cargo.

North Korea’s state news agency later said in a statement that Pyongyang would continue to develop its nuclear program as a means of deterrence against potential acts of aggression from the United States.

North Korea’s claim to have detonated a thermonuclear weapon in an underground test has raised worldwide worry about what really happened, whether the isolated nation is closer to being capable of hitting the USA mainland with a nuclear missile, and whether it brings war closer.

“The republic’s first hydrogen bomb test has been successfully performed at 10am”, North Korean state television announced.

The North said the nuclear test was a hydrogen bomb, a claim other governments and experts have questioned. The United States, South Korea and Japan agreed to launch a “united and strong” int…

Stocks across the world fell for a fifth consecutive day as the North Korea tension added to a growing list of geopolitical worries and China fueled fears about its economy by allowing the yuan to weaken further.

It’s possible North Korea has a “boosted” weapon, one that uses a small amount of fusion to boost the fission process, but is not a hydrogen bomb, but whether there was a hydrogen element isn’t known.

It took about 55 days after the last test to be able to determine the exact nature of it, our correspondent says.

It’s not unusual, of course, for North Korea to dramatically overstate their military accomplishments, but given that the particles released by the test will be detected, the claim seems to be setting the stage for embarrassment down the line. The birthdays of leaders in North Korea are always celebrated with a lot of fanfare, although this was more true of Kim Il Sung, the founding president and the current leader’s grandfather, and of Kim Jong Il, the second in the dynasty.

Early indications are that the test yielded 6 kilotons, or the explosive force of 6,000 tons of TNT.