World angered by Kim’s bomb test, to seek curbs on North Korea

Ever since North Korea said it successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear device on Wednesday, claiming a significant advance in its strike capability, it set off alarm bells in Japan, China, US, UN and South Korea. North Korea said the test, the fourth time the isolated state has exploded a nuclear device, was ordered by young leader Kim Jong Un. “Let the world look up to the strong, self-reliant nuclear-armed state,” Kim wrote in what North Korean state TV displayed as a handwritten note. 

“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) once again carried out the nuclear test irrespective of the international community’s opposition. The Chinese government firmly opposes that,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here. She said Beijing plans to summon North Korean Ambassador here to lodge a diplomatic protest over the test, which follows three earlier nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013. 

North Korea has been under U.N. Security Council sanctions since it first tested an atomic device in 2006 and could face additional measures. As North Korea’s test was announced, the Security Council said it would to discuss what steps it could take, diplomats said. 

The White House said it could not confirm North Korea’s claims, but added the United States would respond appropriately to provocations and defend its allies. Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement that the US “cannot confirm these claims at this time,” and it could take several weeks for America and its allies to determine whether the test was, as the Pyongyang regime claims, a hydrogen or thermonuclear bomb. North Korea has already conducted three nuclear tests since 2006, but thermonuclear devices are significantly more powerful than atomic bombs. 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan would make a firm response to North Korea’s challenge against nuclear non-proliferation, calling its test a threat to Japan’s security. “This clearly violates UN Security Council resolutions and is a grave challenge against international efforts for non-proliferation,” he said. “Our country, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, will take resolute measures by coordinating efforts with the United States, South Korea, China, and Russia, including dealings at the UN Security Council,” Abe said.