World leaders condemn North Korea Hydrogen bomb test

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: World leaders condemn North Korea Hydrogen bomb test North Korea said on Wednesday it had conducted a powerful hydrogen bomb test, a defiant and surprising move that, if confirmed, would be a huge jump in Pyongyang’s quest to improve its still-limited nuclear arsenal. A television anchor said in a typically propaganda-heavy statement that the North had tested a “miniaturized” hydrogen bomb, elevating the country’s “nuclear might to the next level” and providing it with a weapon to defend against the United States and its other enemies. The statement said the test was a “perfect success”. South Korea’s Defence Ministry said, without elaborating, that it was bolstering its security posture in response. The White House says it can’t confirm a North Korean nuclear test, but said it would condemn such a test as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.   Meanwhile, South Korea says it will consult with allies and regional powers to get North Korea to face the consequences of the nuclear test it said it had carried out, such as additional U.N. sanctions. Presidential security official Cho Tae-yong says: “We strongly condemn” the North’s fourth bomb test. He says North Korea must abide by U.N. resolutions that require the country to scrap its nuclear and ballistic missile programs completely and irreversibly.   The head of the U.N. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, which monitors worldwide for nuclear testing, says if confirmed, a nuclear test by North Korea would be a breach of the treaty and a grave threat to international peace and security. Lassina Zerbo says in a statement that the universally accepted norm against nuclear testing has been respected by 183 countries since 1996. Zerbo urged North Korea to refrain from further nuclear testing and join the 183 states who have signed the treaty. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the North Korean announcement of a hydrogen bomb test is a threat to his nation’s safety. Abe told reporters: “We absolutely cannot allow this, and condemn it strongly.” news@7days.ae   Read the original story at: World leaders condemn North Korea Hydrogen bomb test