North Korea claims successful H-bomb test
/ Google-Yonhap
North Korea says it has conducted its first successful hydrogen bomb test.
"The first hydrogen bomb test has been successfully performed at 10 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2016, based on the strategic determination of the Workers' Party," a broadcaster said on a state-owned television news service, Korea Central Television (KCTV).
The North emphasized that the bomb was made using its own resources and technology.
“The hydrogen bomb test is a self-defense measure to protect the independence of the country and the people’s right to survival in the face of nuclear threat and bullying from hostile forces led by the United States,” said the reader.
The North said the hydrogen bomb is a legal, self-defensive right and an irrefutably justified measure.
“We are now a nuclear-possessing country with a hydrogen bomb,” the reader said.
The North made the announcement within three hours after the test, which was initially identified as an earthquake, then categorized as an artificial one.
South Korean soldiers at Dong Seoul Bus Terminal in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, watch news of North Korea’s hydrogen bomb test. The North said it conducted its first successful H-bomb test at 10 a.m. Wednesday. /Yonhap
The test occurred near Gilju, where the North conducted three previous nuclear tests.
The South Korean government said it has delayed convening a meeting of the National Security Council until 1:30 p.m.
South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam said that the North’s H-bomb test is in violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions.