Does Kim have a small bomb with a big punch?

WORLD LEADERS DENOUNCE HYDROGEN BOMB TEST AS PROVOCATIVE

World leaders sternly criticised North Korea yesterday for carrying out a fourth nuclear test, an explosion that Pyongyang claimed was a much more powerful hydrogen bomb test.

The United Nations Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting in New York late yesterday to discuss the international response to the test, which North Korea called an “H-bomb of justice” that it needed for defence against the United States, labelling the US “the chieftain of aggression.”

North Korea’s three previous nuclear tests have been met with international condemnation, including resolutions from the UN Security Council, but have done nothing to deter Pyongyang.

Still, in Seoul, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said North Korea would pay the price for the test, which she called a “grave provocation.”

“Now, the government should closely cooperate with the international community to make sure that North Korea pays the corresponding price for the nuclear test,” Park said in a National Security Council meeting, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a similar message.

“This nuclear test by North Korea is a major threat to our country’s security, and I absolutely cannot accept it,” he told reporters. “Also, it is clearly a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions so … we will take strong measures, including steps within the UN Security Council.”

The US said it was monitoring the situation.

Violation

“While we cannot confirm these claims at this time, we condemn any violation of UN Security Council Resolutions and again call on North Korea to abide by its international obligations and commitments,” said John Kirby, the State Department spokesman.

But the severity of any response will depend on the level of anger in China and Russia, both veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council and both the closest thing North Korea has to friends.

After the nuclear test in 2013, the first of Kim Jong-un’s tenure, China supported expanded sanctions against North Korea, although it’s not clear how strictly Beijing has enforced the restrictions on its neighbour.

Still, China also condemned the test. “Today the DPRK ignored the general objection from the international community and conducted a nuclear test once again. As to this matter, China strongly opposes,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman told reporters in Beijing.

Although China remains North Korea’s biggest patron, relations have been severely strained since Kim took power and detonated a nuclear device a month before Xi Jinping took over as president of China.

In Russia, one senior official condemned the detonation.

Pyongyang claimed yesterday that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, a claim that, if true, would mark a huge step forward in its nuclear capability.

“The first H-bomb test was successfully conducted,” the official Korean Central News Agency said after a special broadcast on state-run television. It said it needed the weapon for defence against the US, which it described as “the chieftain of aggression” and a “gang of cruel robbers.”

“Nothing is more foolish than dropping a hunting gun before herds of ferocious wolves,” the statement said in North Korea’s trademark colourful prose.

North Korea’s three previous nuclear tests have been met with international condemnation and resolutions from the UN Security Council, but have done nothing to deter Pyongyang.