NEW YORK
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned North Korean claims to have carried out an underground hydrogen bomb test.
Ban told journalists at the UN’s headquarters in New York that the “deeply troubling” development “once again violates numerous Security Council resolutions despite the united call by the international community to cease such activities”.
He added: “It is also a grave contravention of the international norm against nuclear testing. This act is profoundly destabilizing for regional security and seriously undermines international non-proliferation efforts. I condemn it unequivocally.”
Nuclear experts have questioned whether the measured blast was large enough to have been from an H-bomb but, if confirmed, it would mark a major upgrade in North Korea’s nuclear capability.
The pariah state has carried out three nuclear tests since 2006 and observers say the explosion claimed Wednesday was slightly larger than the last in 2013.
The UN Security Council announced it would hold an emergency meeting later Wednesday to discuss a response to the test as governments around the world condemned North Korea’s claim.
China -- North Korea’s main ally -- said it “firmly” opposed the test in a Foreign Ministry statement.
“China is steadfast in its position that the Korean Peninsula should be denuclearized and nuclear proliferation be prevented to maintain peace and stability in Northeast Asia,” state news agency Xinhua reported spokesperson Hua Chunying as saying.
"We strongly urge the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] to honor its commitment to denuclearization and to cease any action that may deteriorate the situation."
In the U.S., White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price denounced North Korean “provocations” and vowed the U.S. would respond appropriately.
“While we cannot confirm these claims at this time, we condemn any violation of UNSC [United Nations Security Council] resolutions and again call on North Korea to abide by its international obligations and commitments,” Price said in a statement.
'Historic test'
Pyongyang’s state-run media agency KCNA made a midday announcement that the “historic test” had been carried out under the orders of leader Kim Jong-un - who last month warned for the first time that his country was “ready to detonate a self-reliant H-bomb”.
Hydrogen bombs involve both fission and fusion reactions to generate even more power than single-stage atomic weapons.
South Korea’s presidential office described the test as “a clear violation” of UN Security Council resolutions.
National security Deputy Chief Cho Tae-yong said Seoul would work with other nations to do everything possible to punish the North.
North Korea's boast that it had “proudly joined the advanced ranks of nuclear weapons states” came two days ahead of Kim’s birthday.
Turkey said it was “gravely concerned” by the development, which would affect peace and stability in the region and constituted a clear violation of Security Council resolutions.
“As a country that actively supports international efforts against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, Turkey regards this test as an unacceptable threat to efforts towards international peace and stability and strongly condemns it,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry called on Pyongyang to abide by international obligations.
U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond called for an international response in a statement issued during a trip to China. “It underlines the very real threat that North Korea represents to regional and international security,” he said.
“We will be working with other UN Security Council members to ensure the international community responds urgently and decisively to this latest activity.”
In Germany, the North Korean ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, a ministry spokesman told Anadolu Agency, while Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier sharply criticized the North Korean move.
“North Korea’s nuclear program and nuclear tests are a serious threat to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and international non-proliferation regime,” he said in a statement, urging Kim Jong-un’s regime to comply with Security Council resolutions and return to negotiations.
NATO warned that the test was a threat to regional and international security and a breach of Security Council resolutions.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles and Pyongyang’s “inflammatory and threatening rhetoric”.
He added: “North Korea should abandon nuclear weapons and existing nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and engage in credible and authentic talks on denuclearization.”
The French president's office issued a statement condemning the violation of Security Council resolutions, while noting that it awaited confirmation of the test.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, drew attention to North Korea's humanitarian record.
“Kim Jong-Un may think it appropriate to celebrate his birthday early with a nuclear test but even a hydrogen bomb should not cause the world to forget that the Kim family’s hereditary dictatorship is built on the systematic brutalization and abuse of the North Korean people,” he said in a statement sent to Anadolu Agency.
“The only birthday present that Kim Jong-Un should get from the international community is a one-way trip to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he should be put on trial for crimes against humanity.”
*Anadolu Agency correspondents Mustafa Caglayan in New York, Hajer M'tiri in Paris, Michael Daventry in London, Ilgin Karlidag in Brussels, Ayhan Simsek in Berlin, Bugra Kutlugun in Ankara and Alex Jensen in Seoul contributed to this report.
