North Korea has carried out its sixth nuclear test – the most powerful blast to date – drawing the ire of the international community as the standoff with the United States continues to intensify.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the hydrogen bomb test on Sunday morning, ordered by leader Kim Jong-un, was a “perfect success”.
It was Pyongyang’s first nuclear test since US President Donald Trump took office, and marked a direct challenge to Trump, who hours earlier talked by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the “escalating” nuclear crisis in the region.
Later on Sunday reporters asked Trump whether he would attack North Korea in response. “We’ll see,” replied the US president.
The nuclear test at 03:30 GMT was carried out to “examine and confirm the accuracy and credibility” of North Korea’s technology, KCNA said.
The news agency hailed the bomb’s “unprecedentedly large power”, saying it “marked a very significant occasion in attaining the final goal of completing the state nuclear force”.
The hydrogen bomb’s power is adjustable to hundreds of kilotons and can be detonated at high altitudes, with its indigenously produced components allowing the country to build as many nuclear weapons as it wants, KCNA said.
North Korea has carried out its sixth nuclear test – the most powerful blast to date – drawing the ire of the international community as the standoff with the United States continues to intensify.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the hydrogen bomb test on Sunday morning, ordered by leader Kim Jong-un, was a “perfect success”.
It was Pyongyang’s first nuclear test since US President Donald Trump took office, and marked a direct challenge to Trump, who hours earlier talked by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the “escalating” nuclear crisis in the region.
Later on Sunday reporters asked Trump whether he would attack North Korea in response. “We’ll see,” replied the US president.
The nuclear test at 03:30 GMT was carried out to “examine and confirm the accuracy and credibility” of North Korea’s technology, KCNA said.
The news agency hailed the bomb’s “unprecedentedly large power”, saying it “marked a very significant occasion in attaining the final goal of completing the state nuclear force”.
The hydrogen bomb’s power is adjustable to hundreds of kilotons and can be detonated at high altitudes, with its indigenously produced components allowing the country to build as many nuclear weapons as it wants, KCNA said.
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