North Korea confirms successful nuclear test

The US has condemned a third nuclear test by North Korea, which appears to have brought the country closer to a nuclear weapon.

International responses to the test has been scathing, with Japanese newspapers calling it “unforgivable” and a serious threat to peace in the Korean Peninsula.

The test may have been timed to coincide with Obama’s state of the union speech in which he was proposing to drop the US nuclear arsenal from 1,700 to 1,000.

North Korea described the test as a “first response” in defending itself against “US threats”.

“This nuclear test was our preliminary measure, for which we exercised our most restraint,” an unidentified North Korean spokesman told the state news agency.

He continued: “If the United States continues to come out with hostility and complicates the situation, we will be forced to take stronger, second and third responses in consecutive steps”.

Obama refuted this claiming nuclear weapons only offered the illusion of security. “These provocations do not make North Korea more secure. Far from achieving its stated goal of becoming a strong and prosperous nation, North Korea has instead increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery,” he said.

“The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community. The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies,” the President added.

UN Secretary-General, Ban ki-Moon, also condemned the test calling the country’s actions “deplorable” and urging further sanctions to be imposed.

Eleanor Mackay