North Korea conducted a second and far more powerful nuclear test yesterday, triggering an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the blast.
US President Barack Obama said it was “a matter of grave concern to all nations” and warranted action by the international community.
China said it was “resolutely opposed to” the test, echoing concern expressed by other permanent members of the Security Council which was due to hold an emergency meeting yesterday.
The Chinese foreign ministry also demanded that the North keep its promise of denuclearization and cease all actions that could further worsen the situation.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called North Korea “a danger to the world.”
The Russian defense ministry said the blast was up to 20 kilotons or about equal in power to the US atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 at the end of World War II.
“The latest steps by North Korea escalate tensions in Northeast Asia and endanger security and stability in the region,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called the test “irresponsible” but, like Obama, did not specify what actions the international community might take.
Yesterday’s blast was up to 20 times more powerful than the North’s first nuclear test in October 2006, underscoring the advances in its nuclear program despite multilateral talks on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions.
The test came amid speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, his health uncertain after reports of a stroke last year, wants to strengthen an already iron grip on power so he can better secure the succession for one of his three sons.
The official KCNA news agency said the North had “successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way.”
A South Korean presidential aide said North Korea had given the US notice of the latest test, which followed a partially successful long-range rocket launch last month.
“North Korea’s actions are more for international audience, especially the United States,” said Koh Yu-hwan, Dongguk University professor of North Korea studies.
“Hawkish military elements of the North Korean leadership want a stronger nuclear deterrence and status as a nuclear power before going to the negotiating table with the US,” Koh said.
North Korea had for weeks threatened to conduct the test in response to tighter international sanctions following its launch last month of a rocket, widely seen as a disguised long-range missile that violated UN resolutions.
Following the tightened sanctions, Pyongyang also said it would no longer be a party to six-country talks on giving up its nuclear weapons program.
Ratcheting up tensions further yesterday, North Korea test-fired three short-range missiles just hours after the nuclear test, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Meanwhile, the preparatory committee for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said yesterday’s “event” measured 4.5 on the Richter scale and was within a couple of kilometers of the October 2006 test site.
But it said it could not yet determine whether the event had “a nuclear background,” CTBTO executive secretary Tibor Toth said in Vienna.
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