Pyongyang conducted nuclear test, Tokyo says after ‘artificial earthquake’ strikes N. Korea
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake has struck North Korea near a known nuclear test site – Punggye-ri. The Japanese Foreign Ministry claims that according to its data, “it was a nuclear test.”
"After examining the data we concluded that it was a nuclear tests," Foreign Minister Taro Kono said at a briefing broadcast by public broadcaster NHK following a meeting of Japan's National Security Council, Reuetsrs reports.
An allegedly artificial quake was detected at 12:36pm in North Hamgyeong Province, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), Yonhap reports.
"Today, at around 12:36pm, we detected an artificial earthquake measuring 5.6 magnitude... we are analyzing whether a nuclear test was conducted," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, according to Yonhap.
The USGS reported the tremor as a 6.3 magnitude, while China's earthquake administration also said it detected a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in northeastern North Korea, calling it a "suspected explosion," Reuters reported.
The Pentagon and the JCS have urgently called for a crisis countermeasure, assuming that North Korea is most likely to have conducted a sixth nuclear test, the report added. Seoul has placed its military on highest alert and is closely cooperating with the US.
Seoul's presidential office has already accused its neighbor of conducting a nuclear test while president Moon Jae-in has convened a National Security Council meeting.
'Kim Jong-un inspected the new hydrogen bomb during his visit to the nuclear facility' on.rt.com/8m2i pic.twitter.com/cHHCm2JI1x
North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Institute has created 'more developed nuke' to add to arsenal - N. Korean state media on.rt.com/8m2i pic.twitter.com/BQE3n96vMm
Earlier in the day, North Korea's official news agency (KCNA) reported that the Nuclear Weapons Institute has created a “more developed nuke,” that can be fitted on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The new alleged hydrogen bomb, the report said, not only features “enormous destructive power” but can also be used to detonate a “super powerful” electromagnetic pulse.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service warned Monday that its neighbor might be preparing its sixth nuclear weapon test from a nuclear test site in Punggye-ri. North Korea has already conducted five nuclear tests – in 2006, 2009, 2013 and in January and September 2016. During the last test, the North claimed it had successfully detonated a small nuclear warhead.
posted by Satish Sharma at
11:14
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