Julian Borger, and Justin McCurry report increasing scepticism about North Korea’s claims in the Guardian’s latest wrap up all the key developments.
With that we’re going to bring this blog to a close, but there will be more reports and all the latest on the UN security council meeting on the North Korea section of the Guardian’s site.
Updated
Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP
US Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio has used the test to criticise Barack Obama’s “failed” foreign policy, Reuters reports.
“If this test is confirmed, it will be just the latest example of the failed Obama-Clinton foreign policy,” Rubio, said in a statement.
“I have been warning throughout this campaign that North Korea is run by a lunatic who has been expanding his nuclear arsenal while President Obama has stood idly by,” Rubio said.
Rubio said Obama should “stand up to people like Kim” but did not elaborate.
Updated
Of all the international statements denouncing North Korea’s move, China’s is the most significant, writes Simon Tisdall.
Beijing formally protested, expressed concern over radioactive fallout in areas bordering North Korea, and indicated it would support new, punitive UN security council action as demanded by South Korea, among others. Maybe Beijing’s undisguised wrath will give Kim Jong-un pause. But maybe not. In a deliberate poke in the eye for China’s leaders, he failed to inform them of the test in advance. Kim has refused to rejoin the Chinese-led six-party nuclear talks. In September, he snubbed President Xi Jinping’s invitation to attend celebrations marking the end of the second world war.
In fact, Kim has never visited his Chinese ally A visit to Pyongyang last October by Liu Yunshan, a senior Chinese party official, suggested relations were warming up. Now Kim has slammed the door again.
In truth, China has less leverage over Pyongyang, both politically and in terms of trade and oil supplies, than is commonly believed. So perhaps the boyish Kim, self-styled “Supreme Leader”, does not really care what “Big Daddy” Xi wants.
Or perhaps – a more alarming thought – Kim does not know what he is doing. Conventional diplomatic wisdom suggests China will not break with North Korea’s regime for fear of internal collapse, a refugee crisis, and a US-South Korean takeover. But there is more than one way to skin a cat. Tough bilateral Chinese sanctions in addition to UN measures are one option, plus a halt to Chinese aid, investment and joint projects. If China does not act, it is unclear who will.
AP mops up more reaction:
- Melissa Hanham, senior researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterrey, California, said: “I’m pretty skeptical. ... The seismic data indicates it would be very small for a hydrogen test. It would be very, very remarkable if they had achieved it already. ... It seems just too soon to have this big technical achievement. But North Korea has always defied expectations.”
- Song Chol, a resident of Pyongyang, said: “The United States is the aggressor with all kinds of nuclear weapons, waiting to invade our country, so having a hydrogen bomb is the right thing, the legitimate right of a sovereign state, which nobody can complain about. It would be stupid to put down your gun as you are faced by fierce wolves rushing at you.”
- Hazel Smith, director of the International Institute of Korean Studies at Britain’s University of Central Lancashire, said: “The North Koreans are not led by diplomatic strategy anymore. They are led by a view that the military is what allows the regime to survive ... You have a group of (ruling) families who don’t want to see their power go, who don’t want to end up in (the International Criminal Court in) The Hague. “Every nuclear test that they’ve had has caused massive consternation in China. But the North Koreans have never been susceptible to letting China tell them what to do.”_
- Lassin Zerbo, executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, said: “I sincerely hope that this will serve as the final wake-up call to the international community to outlaw all nuclear testing.”
- John Delury, a professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University said North Korea’s powerful military and nuclear weapons bureaucracies “are continuously looking for ways to improve their programs,” Delury said. “I figure they are constantly asking to test.”He said that since “there’s not much in play” with North Korea diplomatically with the US, South Korea or even China, leader Kim Jong Un “takes a little bit of a blow” with the test while gaining international attention and placating powerful officials in his regime.
China’s Xinhua news agency has video footage of children and staff evacuating a school in an area close to North Korea’s border after tremors from the test.
Students, teachers evacuate in NE China border town after feeling tremor due to #DPRK #HBomb test pic.twitter.com/rQ0xdNFmDq
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 6, 2016
Trying to figure out North Korean motivations is difficult as the regime is so opaque, but the New York Times gives it a go in a comprehensive q&a.
In the past, United States administrations and South Korean governments managed to tamp down periodic heightened tensions with North Korea by offering concessions, including much-needed aid, in return for the North’s promising to end its nuclear weapons programs. Many analysts believe that North Korea is again seeking aid and other concessions, while some suggest that it merely wants to be recognized as a nuclear state, like Pakistan.
Still others suggest that the North genuinely fears an attack by the United States or South Korea and views the warnings as deterrence. Highlighting a perceived threat from abroad is also a favorite tool the North Korean government uses to ensure internal cohesion in an impoverished country that has experienced enormous privation, including devastating famine and continuing pervasive hunger.
Photograph: Michael Sohn/AP
North Korea’s nuclear program and its repeated nuclear tests are serious threats to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, according to Germany’s foreign ministry Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In his statement of condemnation he said:
North Korea is against the principles of the international community and threatens the regional and international security.
We urge North Korea to refrain, to behave according to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and return to the negotiating table.
Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, called for a resumption of the stop-start six-party talks aimed at terminating North Korea’s nuclear programme. Involving China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the US, they began in 2003, but have been moribund since 2009. Angela Stanzel, a policy fellow in the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, summed up the state of the talks in this piece for Al Jazeera.
Time and again, the talks stopped and were relaunched, until eventually collapsing completely in 2009, after a North Korean satellite launch prompted the UN security council to expand sanctions on North Korean firms.
Ever since, China has been attempting to reconvene the talks but has failed as the other parties (mainly the US) do not wish to resume negotiations without imposing preconditions on North Korea.
When Kim Jong-un succeeded his father Kim Jong-il in December 2011, hopes rose again that the son would be more willing to re-engage in negotiations. Those who had this hope were disappointed soon.
In December, 38 North, a US research institute that tracks North Korea, reported that a new tunnel was being excavated at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. 38 North said - presciently as it turned out - that the new tunnel gave North Korea increased capability to conduct additional explosions.
Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates that North Korea is excavating a new tunnel for nuclear testing at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. This tunnel is in a new area of the site in addition to the three others where the North has either conducted nuclear tests or excavated tunnels in the past. While there are no indications that a nuclear test is imminent, the new tunnel adds to North Korea’s ability to conduct additional detonations at Punggye-ri over the coming years if it chooses to do so.
Updated
Nato accuses DPNK of undermining international security
Nato says the test undermines regional and international security. In a statement secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said:
The nuclear weapons test announced by North Korea undermines regional and international security, and is in clear breach of UN Security Council resolutions. I condemn the continued development by North Korea of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes and its inflammatory and threatening rhetoric.
I call on North Korea to fully respect its international obligations and commitments. North Korea should abandon nuclear weapons and existing nuclear and ballistic missile programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, and engage in credible and authentic talks on denuclearisation.
Hilary Benn, who survived Labour’s reshuffle as shadow foreign secretary, has added his voice to the stream of condemnation.
In a statement he said: “If verified, the nuclear test carried out by North Korea represents a clear violation of numerous UN Security Council Resolutions and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
“The country’s nuclear programme poses a grave threat to international peace and security and does nothing to improve the prospects of the people of North Korea, who continue to pay the price for the country’s misguided policies.
“I call on the North Korean government to recognise its commitments under international law, and urge it and the international community to reinvigorate efforts towards the goal of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, ideally through the resumption of the Six Party Talks.”
Updated
What we know so far
Here’s a round up of where things currently stand:
- North Korea claims it has successfully detonated a miniaturised hydrogen bomb. The underground test took place on Wednesday at 10am local time (1.30am GMT/Wednesday 12.30pm AEDT/Tuesday 6.30pm ET) at a known nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, in the east of the country.
- Pyongyang said the test and was “self-defence against the US having numerous and humongous nuclear weapons”. In a TV announcement it also said the test went “perfectly”. If true, this would be North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, and its first using a hydrogen bomb, significantly more powerful than an atomic bomb.
- There has been no independent verification of North Korea’s claims. An artificial earthquake of magnitude 5.1 was detected close to Punggye-ri. The UN organisation monitoring the world for signs of nuclear testing confirmed it had detected “an unusual event in the Korean peninsula”, but some experts have cautioned that claims of a hydrogen bomb could be exaggerated.
- The UN security council is expected to meet in New York on Wednesday 11am ET (4pm GMT) to discuss the North Korean claims.
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Russia and China have joined the international chorus of countries condemning the test. China, once seen as an ally of North Korea, said it “firmly” opposed the test. It also said it was given no warning.
- There has also been widespread scepticism of Pyongyang’s claims about the test. The White House said it could not yet confirm the test, but reiterated that the US “will not accept [North Korea] as a nuclear state”.
- South Korea and Japan have condemned news of the test, labelling it a threat to their security. Statements of concern have also been issued by the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
- Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop said her country “condemns in the strongest possible terms the provocative and dangerous behaviour of the North Korean regime”.
- The UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said any test would be a “grave breach” of UN resolutions and “a provocation which I condemn without reservation”.
Sweden’s former prime minister, Carl Bildt, encapsulates the international response in single tweet by condemning North Korea’s test while expressing doubts about its claims.
Very serious provocation by North Korea, although it's unlikely to have been a fully-fledged fusion bomb.https://t.co/8eHHQrSNzN
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) January 6, 2016
The test can be seen as snub to China and sign of Beijing’s waning influence over North Korea, analysts have told the Washington Post.
“In a way, this is a protest against Beijing,” said Bo Zhiyue, director of the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre at the Victoria University of Wellington. “They are saying: ‘we can do whatever we want. This shows our independence and we don’t need your approval.’” ...
No one is expecting a complete breakdown in Sino-North Korean ties, nor are they expecting Pyongyang to abandon a nuclear program that has become a key pillar of its regime’s declared legitimacy, at least not in the foreseeable future.
“Beijing will face increased pressure both domestically and internationally to punish and rein in Kim Jong Un and to ultimately force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons,” said Yanmei Xie, senior China analyst with the International Crisis Group in Beijing. “But there is likely to be a repeat of the worn playbook of denunciation, tightening of sanctions, and calling for resurrection of the six party talks.”
Nuclear experts have questioned whether the size of the blast was large enough to have been from a hydrogen bomb test, the BBC reports.
Bruce Bennett, an analyst with the Rand Corporation, was among those casting doubts on Pyongyang’s test: “The bang they should have gotten would have been ten times greater than what they’re claiming.
“So Kim Jong-un is either lying, saying they did a hydrogen test when they didn’t, they just used a little bit more efficient fission weapon - or the hydrogen part of the test really didn’t work very well or the fission part didn’t work very well.”
A South Korean politician, Lee Cheol-woo, said he was briefed by the country’s intelligence agency that the blast “probably falls short” of a hydrogen detonation.
Sanctions and resolutions will not stop North Korean engineers from working hard to build bigger and better weapons, warns Andrei Lankov.
More likely, in the next few weeks we will see a repeat of the same cycle we have seen so many times over the last 10 years. The UN security council will have an urgent meeting that will introduce sanctions targeting North Korea. Such sanctions will allow politicians to explain to their voters that they are punishing a rogue regime in all ways imaginable – for instance, depriving the leadership of Hennessey cognac and Godiva chocolate. Credulous voters will agree and feel placated, but in actuality, such measures will make little if any difference.
Even if sanctions were to inflict damage on the North Korean economy – which has exceptionally low dependence on foreign trade – the only victims will be common North Koreans, who will just suffer more.
Of course, the top leadership might lose access to champagne, but in their eyes, this is a small price to pay for escaping the fates of Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein.
We seem to be caught in a cul-de-sac ... Nothing good about this situation is in sight, but seemingly there’s nothing to be done.
Japan’s defence ministry has deployed three T4 training planes to collect possible radioactive material in the air following North Korea’s claimed hydrogen bomb test, AFP reports citing officials
“To understand the impact of possible radioactive materials released by the test, Air Self-Defence Force planes have collected dust in the air,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government’s top spokesman, told a press conference.
“It is currently being sent to the Japan Chemical Analysis Center,” he said.
Suga added that the planes flew in Japanese airspace, while the Sankei Shimbun daily reported that the aircrafts took off from three separate bases in different parts of the country.
The cabinet secretary also said no abnormal levels of radiation have so far been detected through monitoring posts installed across Japan as of 4:45 pm Wednesday (0745 GMT).
The results collected by the planes are expected to be released on Thursday, an official with Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority told reporters.
The FT’s Seoul correspondent, Simon Mundy, says North Korea’s claimed status as a nuclear power “has become a major domestic propaganda trope in recent years.”
In a video primer on the test he suggests Pyongyang will see it as a “useful asset for a regime that has precious few economic achievement to boast of”.
Koryo Tours, who have been taking western tourists to North Korea since 1992, said it does not epect the nuclear test to affect any of their upcoming tours, writes Maeve Shearlaw.
The company’s general manager Simon Cockrell is due to travel to Pyongyang tomorrow and Vicky Mohieddeen, who got back from New Year’s Eve tour yesterday, described everything in the country as normal: “We had 54 tourists from all over the world in Pyongyang seeing in 2016 on a boat on the Taedong River”
“The only things that have caused tours to be cancelled in the last few years have been Sars in 2003, and Ebola in 2014-2015. The nuclear tests previously haven’t had any effect on tourism” says Cockrell.
He described the people who sign up to their tours as “safety-aware” and said this “extends to knowing the difference between an underground nuclear test in a remote area, and being in normal tourist areas above ground – a test is not the same as the actual danger from nuclear weapons.”
Koryo’s next tour is scheduled for 11 January.
Russia has joined the international chorus of condemnation of North Korea’s test.
“Such actions are fraught with further aggravation of the situation on the Korean peninsula, which is anyway marked by very high potential of military and political confrontation,” said Russia foreign ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova.
Japan’s government said the test was a “grave threat to Japan” but appealed to the Japanese public to remain calm.
Ad hoc Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary on the Nuclear Test by North Korea (January 6, 2015 (PM)) https://t.co/tLOZd7KR4p
— PM's Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) January 6, 2016
Here’s video of Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond’s statement on the test.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said if confirmed the test is clear violation of UN resolutions. In a statement its director general, Yukiya Amano, said the agency remains ready to resume nuclear verification in North Korea.
He said:
The DPRK’s nuclear test, if confirmed, is in clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and is deeply regrettable.
I strongly urge the DPRK to implement fully all relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the IAEA.
The IAEA remains ready to contribute to the peaceful resolution of the DPRK nuclear issue by resuming its nuclear verification activities in the DPRK once a political agreement is reached among countries concerned.
Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Michael Safi in Sydney wrap up the key developments and reaction to the test.
EU reaction
The European Union’s high representative on foreign affairs has added her voice to those condemning the test.
In a statement, Federica Mogherini said:
If confirmed, this action would represent a grave violation of the DPRK’s international obligations not to produce or test nuclear weapons, as determined by several United Nations Security Council Resolutions, and a threat to the peace and security of the entire North East Asia region.
I call on the DPRK to re-engage in a credible and meaningful dialogue with the international community, in particular in the framework of the Six-Party Talks, and to cease this illegal and dangerous behaviour.
I will speak this morning with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea Yun Byung-se and the Foreign Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida to discuss the way forward.
We will work with the UN Security Council, which will meet later today in urgent session to address this issue.
Updated
China express 'firm' opposition to the test
China’s news agency Xinhua has more on Beijing’s opposition to the test.
China “firmly” opposes the latest nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to a statement on Wednesday from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The ministry made the statement after the DPRK announced Wednesday that it has successfully carried out its first hydrogen bomb test.
“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,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced at a press briefing.
“We strongly urge the DPRK to honor its commitment to denuclearization, and to cease any action that may deteriorate the situation,” Hua said.
Updated
This timeline shows the key developments in North Korea’s nuclear programme since it started operations on a nuclear reactor in 1986.
North Koreans gathered in a square in Pyongyang to watch state television announcements of the successful miniaturised hydrogen bomb detonation. Reuters video shows many reacting to the news with smiles and applause.
Maeve Shearlaw rounds up reaction from some of the most clued-up North Korea watchers.
North Korea on the front page, where it likes to be. https://t.co/ut60UkYV1x pic.twitter.com/Sx6s6IuRHd
— Alastair Gale (@AlastairGale) January 6, 2016
Even if #nuclear test turns out to be failure, #NorthKorea accomplished one objective: reminding world it has nukes https://t.co/OZqAjdbGIR
— Jean H. Lee (@newsjean) January 6, 2016
Although North Korea’s state media website KCNA appeared to creaking under the pressure:
I wonder why? pic.twitter.com/Q12vJBtzEH
— Remco Breuker (@koryoinleiden) January 6, 2016
As for the timing, perhaps Kim was treating himself to an early gift?
2 days before Kim Jong Un's bday, #NorthKorea tests what it claims is #hydrogenbomb. What a birthday gift. #nuclear https://t.co/gOYD2ioKAv
— Jean H. Lee (@newsjean) January 6, 2016
Updated
Human Rights Watch has put out a strongly worded statement condemning the test and picking out that it comes on the eve of Kim Jong-un’s birthday. Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said:
“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. 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.”
Chosen Exchange, which runs regular business workshops in North Korea, said the test and the likely sanctions to follow, will disrupt trilateral corporation between South Korea, Russia and China.
It will probably mean business as usual, with new sanctions creating a slightly more inconvenient environment, but with Koreans and their Chinese (and other) partners finding ways to evade enforcement. The most significant effect may well be the death of potential North Korea-Russia-South Korea cooperation on major economic development projects.
Certainly, new UN sanctions seem inevitable, designating more companies, individuals and industries as out of bounds, while also reaffirming everybody’s frustrations.
As usual, China will be the pivot. Beijing has shown a willingness to pass resolutions after each nuclear test, but has been less interested in enforcement than Washington would like it to be. How much pressure can the US apply to have China tighten up on transactions and trade of sensitive or luxury goods?
China is frustrated with the DPRK’s nuclear program, for sure, but they still want to see Pyongyang experiment with economic policy and integrate its economy with the Chinese northeast.
Residents on China’s border with North Korea have been evacuated from buildings after feeling tremors from the nuclear test, AFP reports citing state media.
People near the frontier with North Korea “clearly felt tremors” on Wednesday morning when Pyongyang said it detonated a hydrogen bomb, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said on a verified social media account.
The areas on the border included Yanji, Hunchun and Changbai in Jilin province, it added - some of the counties closest to the North’s nuclear test site.
Residents in Yanji saw desks and chairs shake for several seconds and some companies evacuated employees from their offices, CCTV said.
Students at a senior high school were dismissed during an examination after its recreation grounds cracked, it added.
China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday said authorities were evaluating the environmental impact of the nuclear test, adding currently the radiation level in the area was “normal”.
Environmental officials’ monitoring showed indicators within normal ranges, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing, so that “so far the nuclear tests have had no impact on the public and health”.
Here’s video of China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman denouncing North Korea’s test. She also urged Japan to “stop deteriorating the situation”, according to a translator on CCTV.
China reiterates its stance on denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula after DPRK's #Hbomb test: MOFA https://t.co/kcsVx28ivW
— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) January 6, 2016
Updated
China knew nothing about the test
China knew nothing about the North Korea’s nuclear test before it was announced, according to foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.
#China knew nothing about #DPRK's 1st H-bomb test before its announcement on Wed: FM spokesperson, Wed (file pic) pic.twitter.com/hO6zlJoh75
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) January 6, 2016
In comments on the foreign ministry website, China also urged North Korea to honour its commitment to denuclearisation and called on Pyongyang to stop taking any action that could cause a deterioration of the situation on the Korean peninsula.
An image purporting to show Kim Jong-un’s hand-written text ordering the nuclear test has been published by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency and republished by the China’s People’s Daily.
#DPRK media on Wed releases autograph of Kim Jong-un authorizing the country's first #Hbomb test pic.twitter.com/9Y8bGPbjqC
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) January 6, 2016
Here’s a clip of North Korea’s state-owned broadcaster announcing the test. The broadcast from Pyongyang includes images of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, as well as newsreel footage of scientists working at a nuclear facility.
Britain’s foreign office has issued a statement from Philip Hammond accusing North Korea of a “grave breach” of UN resolution.
In a addition to his remarks to journalists (see earlier) the foreign secretary said:
“If a nuclear device has been detonated by North Korea, this is a grave breach of UN security council resolutions and a provocation which I condemn without reservation.
“It underlines the very real threat that North Korea represents to regional and international security.
“We will be working with other UN Security Council members to ensure the international community responds urgently and decisively to this latest activity.”
“I have discussed this matter today in Beijing with my Chinese counterpart, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, and we have agreed to work with other members of the UN Security Council towards a robust international response.”
The UK’s former ambassador to North Korea has described the nuclear test as “deeply worrying” and warned that Pyongyang could launch a nuclear strike.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme John Everard, said: “Anything that produces a seismic shock of 5.1 is dangerous ... an explosion of that size is quite enough to wipe out a city, and that of course is deeply worrying.”
Everard warned that Pyongyang’s leaders believed they could survive a nuclear counterstrike by sheltering in tunnels.
He said: “North Korea has a defensive tunnel system that makes the Tora Bora look like a child’s play pen in comparison. If they believe they can hide away in their tunnels and survive a nuclear counterstrike, the possibility that they could launch a nuclear first strike remains.”
Asked whether he believed that North Korea would seriously considered a nuclear strike, Everard said: “Yes, because the North Koreans have a deep sense of victimhood – that they are aggrieved by the international community. They also have a warrior tradition which would mean that they would probably prefer to go down fighting rather than be absorbed by South Korea.”
Everard also claimed that relations between China and North Korea have become so strained over nuclear weapons that Beijing could side with the international community in condemning the test. “It looks like the China/North Korea love in has soured very quickly. The Chinese have said they will cooperate with the international community in the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and I have a hunch, that when the UN security council meets later today that, we will see a rather different Chinese attitude from the one that we seen in the past.”
What we know so far
- North Korea claims it has successfully detonated a miniaturised hydrogen bomb.
- The underground test took place on Wednesday at 10am local time (1.30am GMT/Wednesday 12.30pm AEDT/Tuesday 6.30pm ET) at a known nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, in the east of the country.
- An announcement on state television claimed the test “worked perfectly” and was “self-defence against the US having numerous and humongous nuclear weapons”.
- If true, this would be North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, and its first using a hydrogen bomb, significantly more powerful than an atomic bomb.
- There has been no independent verification of North Korea’s claims.
- An artificial earthquake of magnitude 5.1 was detected close to Punggye-ri. The UN organisation monitoring the world for signs of nuclear testing confirmed it had detected “an unusual event in the Korean peninsula”, but some experts have cautioned that claims of a hydrogen bomb could be exaggerated.
- The UN security council is expected to meet in New York on Wednesday 11am ET (4pm GMT) to discuss the North Korean claims.
- The White House said it could not yet confirm the test, but reiterated that the US “will not accept [North Korea] as a nuclear state”.
- South Korea and Japan have condemned news of the test, labelling it a threat to their security.
- China has yet to respond officially but an editorial from Xinhua, the official news agency, warned:
Any act that disrupts stability in north-eastern Asia is undesirable and unwise.
- Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop said her country “condemns in the strongest possible terms the provocative and dangerous behaviour of the North Korean regime”.
- The UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said any test would be a “grave breach” of UN resolutions and “a provocation which I condemn without reservation”. Hammond told reporters in Beijing:
So far as I think any of us can tell, there is no reason to doubt what the North Koreans are claiming: that they have carried out a test detonation of an H-bomb.
This isn’t particularly easy to read, and we’re working on a more legible transcript, but here is the full version of the North Korean state TV broadcast announcing the test:
Here's the final, full KCNA bulletin on today's nuclear text. Also on https://t.co/78w4wJlNdO for those with access pic.twitter.com/mLrVR9QHGj
— Martyn Williams (@martyn_williams) January 6, 2016
We’re expecting official reaction from Beijing soon.
Meanwhile, Xinhua, the official news agency, has published a Chinese-language editorial on the test.
Christy Yao in our Beijing bureau has translated some of the key lines:
The test of a nuclear bomb by North Korea runs counter to the relevant UN resolutions and the internationally-backed Korean peninsula denuclearisation efforts.
It is not good for anyone for there not to be peace on the Korean peninsula. Any act that disrupts stability in north-eastern Asia is undesirable and unwise.
All relevant parties should refrain from unilateral steps that are detrimental to regional peace and stability.
Updated
UK foreign secretary: 'no reason to doubt what North Koreans are claiming'
Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, has just sat down with a small group of foreign correspondents in Beijing, where he is on an official visit.
Here’s what he had to say on North Korea:
We are anticipating that there will be an emergency session of the UN security council in New York later today, when both countries [UK and China] will condemn – along with, I expect, everybody else in the world except perhaps for one or two mavericks – any nuclear test carried out by the DPRK.
I think I can say that Britain and China are pretty much completely aligned on North Korean nuclear. We both strongly oppose the acquisition or testing of nuclear weapons by North Korea and we both want to see a resumption of the six-party talks.
So far as I think any of us can tell, there is no reason to doubt what the North Koreans are claiming: that they have carried out a test detonation of an H-bomb.
It is clearly very bad news for the non-proliferation agenda generally and for security in the East China Sea region specifically.
France has now condemned the nuclear test and has called for a “strong reaction from the international community”, president François Hollande’s office said in a statement.
The statement said the claims of a hydrogen bomb detonation were “an unacceptable violation of [UN] security council resolutions”.
Round-up: international reaction
South Korea
President Park Geun-Hye called the test a “grave provocation” at an emergency meeting of the country’s national security council.
“The test is not only a grave provocation to our national security but also a threat to our future … and a strong challenge to international peace and stability,” she said, calling for strong sanctions on Pyongyang.
In an earlier statement, Seoul said it would “take all necessary measures including additional sanctions by the UN security council … so that the North will pay the price for the nuclear test”.
Japan
“The nuclear test that was carried out by North Korea is a serious threat to the safety of our nation and we absolutely cannot tolerate this,” prime minister Shinzo Abe said in Tokyo.
“This clearly violates UN security council resolutions and is a grave challenge against international efforts for non-proliferation,” he said, adding his country would seek to coordinate efforts among UN members to tackle North Korea’s actions.
United States
In Washington, the White House said it could not yet confirm the test, but vowed to “respond appropriately to any and all North Korean provocations”. It said the US “will not accept [North Korea] as a nuclear state”.
China
There was no immediate response from China, but in a report from Pyongyang, the official Xinhua news service said that the “test apparently runs counter to relevant UN resolutions” and “is set to cause repercussions”.
Australia
Foreign minister Julie Bishop said her country “condemns in the strongest possible terms” the test, which “confirms North Korea’s status as a rogue state and a continuing threat to international peace and security”, adding that Canberra would express its concerns to Pyongyang directly and call for stronger UN sanctions.
United Kingdom
Foreign secretary Philip Hammond said: “If North Korean H-bomb test reports are true, it is a grave breach of UN [security council] resolutions and a provocation which I condemn without reservation.”
Verifying – or disproving – North Korea’s claim that it has tested a miniaturised hydrogen bomb could take days or weeks, experts say.
For now, other nations and expert bodies are treating the claim with caution.
However, according to South Korean media, the defence ministry in Seoul has said a small amount of hydrogen may have been added to the device North Korea tested on Wednesday.
The MoneyToday online news service quoted ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok as saying:
We will find out after closely analysing it but we understand a small amount of hydrogen may have been added to the fourth nuclear test.
Should we believe North Korea’s claims to have tested a hydrogen bomb?
John Carlson, the former head of Australia’s nuclear safeguards and non-proliferation Office, said the veracity of the claim would be difficult to determine “until we can analyse any gases emitted, and it could take several days for those to show up, if it all”.
He said it would be a “major challenge” for the North Korean regime to develop a thermonuclear weapon, particularly a miniaturised version, which required even greater expertise.
“Their claim would be far more convincing if it was a larger size,” he said.
Carlson, who headed Australia’s safeguards office for more than two decades, said it was possible Pyongyang had actually produced a lower-yield “boosted explosion”, in which the hydrogen isotope tritium undergoes partial fusion, allowing them to describe the device as a hydrogen bomb.
“I think it’s feasible that they’ve done that and they’re claiming that they’ve done more,” he said.
What we know so far
- North Korea claims it has successfully detonated a miniaturised hydrogen bomb.
- The underground test took place on Wednesday at 10am local time (1.30am GMT/Wednesday 12.30pm AEDT/Tuesday 6.30pm ET) at a known nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, in the east of the country.
- An announcement on state television claimed the test “worked perfectly” and was “self-defence against the US having numerous and humongous nuclear weapons”.
- If true, this would be North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, and its first using a hydrogen bomb, significantly more powerful than an atomic bomb.
- There has been no independent verification of North Korea’s claims.
- An artificial earthquake of magnitude 5.1 was detected close to Punggye-ri. The UN organisation monitoring the world for signs of nuclear testing confirmed it had detected “an unusual event in the Korean peninsula”.
- The UN security council is expected to meet in New York on Wednesday 11am ET (4pm GMT) to discuss the North Korean claims.
- The White House said it could not yet confirm the test, but reiterated that the US “will not accept [North Korea] as a nuclear state”.
- South Korea and Japan have condemned news of the test, labelling it a threat to their security.
- Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop said her country “condemns in the strongest possible terms the provocative and dangerous behaviour of the North Korean regime”.
- The UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said any test would be a “grave breach” of UN resolutions and “a provocation which I condemn without reservation”.
Chinese border residents were evacuated from buildings after feeling tremors from North Korea’s nuclear test on Wednesday, state media has reported.
People near the frontier with North Korea “clearly felt tremors” on Wednesday morning after Pyongyang said it detonated a hydrogen bomb, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said.
Picture shows students evacuated in Yanji near China-#DPRK border after Pyongyang's H-bomb test pic.twitter.com/kmSGvV5MJ9
— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) January 6, 2016
The areas included Yanji, Hunchun and Changbai in Jilin province, some of the counties closest to the nuclear test site.
Residents in Yanji saw desks and chairs shake for several seconds and some companies evacuated employees from their offices, CCTV said. Students at a senior high school were dismissed during an examination after its recreation ground cracked, it added.
Pyongyang said the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, had signed the order for the test on 3 January and has released this picture of him apparently doing so:
Updated
Casting further doubt on North Korea’s claims, South Korea’s intelligence agency says the device tested on Wednesday may not have been a hydrogen nuclear bomb, Yonhap news agency reports.
South Korea’s meteorological agency said separately that it has not detected any radiation after North Korea said it successfully conducted a hydrogen nuclear test.
The UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has responded to the North Korean claims:
If North Korean H-bomb test reports are true, it is a grave breach of #UNSC resolutions & a provocation which I condemn without reservation
— Philip Hammond (@PHammondMP) January 6, 2016
He – like the White House – adds the caveat that we do not yet know if the North Korean claims are true or an aggrandisement.
US experts have said it will take at least a number of days, and possibly weeks, to investigate and confirm (or otherwise) the claim that a miniaturised hydrogen bomb was detonated.
What is a hydrogen bomb?
According to John Carlson, the former head of the Australian safeguards and non-proliferation office,, a thermonuclear bomb, colloquially known as a hydrogen bomb, is essentially a two-stage explosion: one a nuclear fission reaction, the a other nuclear fusion reaction.
The “primary” explosion is the fission reaction – as for a conventional nuclear bomb – that emits x-rays which cause the “secondary” explosion, triggered by the fusion of tritium and deuterium, two hydrogen isotopes.
These two isotopes naturally repel each other, but the x-rays weaken this repellent force, causing the pair to fuse together.
It is the fusion of these two isotopes that triggers the enormous energy release that make thermonuclear explosions so destructive.
How does this differ to past North Korean nuclear tests?
Past nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013 were purely the primary stage, a nuclear explosion, “and fairly low yield at that”, Carlson says.
Updated
South Korea says it will consult with allies and regional powers to get North Korea to face the consequences of the nuclear test it says it has carried out, including possible additional UN sanctions.
Presidential security official Cho Tae-yong said “we strongly condemn” the North’s fourth bomb test.
He said North Korea must abide by UN resolutions that require the country to scrap its nuclear and ballistic missile programs completely and irreversibly.
South Korea’s defence ministry also says it is bolstering security and monitoring on North Korea.
Public reaction inside North Korea – as far as it is possible to report – has been enthusiastic, Associated Press says:
Crowds dressed in thick winter coats have gathered outside a large video screen near a Pyongyang train station to cheer and take video and photos on their mobile phones of the state TV anchor announcing the country had carried out a nuclear test.
Some people raised their hands and applauded. Many smiled and cheered.
Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop has issued a statement on the nuclear test claims:
Australia condemns in the strongest possible terms the provocative and dangerous behaviour of the North Korean regime.
Today’s nuclear test confirms North Korea’s status as a rogue state and a continuing threat to international peace and security.
Bishop added that Australia would make its concerns known directly to the North Korean government and would work to strengthen sanctions aimed at reducing funding to North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs.
Updated
North Korea's nuclear history
A successful fourth test could deepen North Korea’s international isolation if the UN security council decided to respond with more sanctions, the Guardian’s Japan and Korea correspondent, Justin McCurry, reports.
Pyongyang is thought to have developed several crude nuclear weapons.
Since becoming North Korean leader in late 2011, Kim Jong-un has stepped up condemnation of joint US-South Korean military drills he believes are preparation for an invasion.
In early 2013, Kim responded to UN sanctions imposed after North Korea’s third nuclear test by unleashing a barrage of threats aimed at South Korea, the US and Japan.
Kim appears to have caught the world off-guard yet again. He did not mention his country’s pursuit of a nuclear deterrent in his New Year’s address – an omission some analysts was designed to improve the prospects of a summit with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
China joined other countries in condemning North Korea’s 2013 test – conducted in defiance of international sanctions – leading to a deterioration in traditionally warm ties between Pyongyang and Beijing.
Last month, Washington dismissed Kim’s claims that his country had developed a hydrogen bomb – a development that, if true, would mark significant progress in North Korea’s nuclear capability. Hydrogen bombs are capable of producing a far more powerful blast than basic atom bombs.
KCNA quoted Kim as saying at the time that he was continuing the work of his grandfather – and North Korea’s founder – Kim Il-sung, to turn North Korea into a “powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation”.
The claim was greeted with scepticism in Washington, however, with White House spokesman Josh Earnest saying Washington had evidence that “calls into serious question” Pyongyang’s claim.
Here is the full statement from the White House, which is cautious ahead of confirmation of the claimed hydrogen bomb test, but reiterates that the US “will not accept [North Korea] as a nuclear state”.
We are aware of seismic activity on the Korean Peninsula & have seen claims of a nuclear test. Statement: pic.twitter.com/WvyFkpJcZo
— WH National Security (@NSCPress) January 6, 2016
Markets in Asia have reacted to the news, with Japan’s Nikkei share average falling as much as 1.7% on Wednesday afternoon.
“North Korea woes added to investor fears and hit further the Japanese market, which was already battered by geopolitical worries about the Middle East and volatility in Chinese shares,” Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, told Reuters.
The Nikkei share average recovered but was down 1.4% at 18,123.30 points by mid-afternoon.
The Guardian’s Beijing correspondent, Tom Phillips, says China has yet to comment officially on news of the test:
But Shi Yinhong, a government foreign policy adviser, says he believes Chinese president Xi Jinping will have been infuriated by the test.
“Of course he will be very angry and Xi Jinping will further delay his intention in the process [towards] improved relations with North Korea. With this kind of action you have no choice,” Shi said.
Shi, who is a professor of international relations at Beijing’s Renmin University, said China had been attempting to improve ties with North Korea, sending Liu Yunshan, one of the Communist party’s most powerful leaders, to visit last October.
“Only a few months ago China tried to improve relations with North Korea by sending Liu Yunshan to Pyongyang. But of course this process … will be very much more difficult now,” he said.
The test showed those attempts had failed “in some ways [because of] Kim Jong-un’s own actions”.
With Wednesday morning’s test Kim was sending a signal that he was prepared to defy anyone, “including Xi Jinping himself”.
“Beijing-Pyongyang relations already for years are quite bad so of course it further damages them,” Shi added.
US 'condemns any violation of UN resolutions'
First report of a response from the White House, which says it cannot confirm North Korea’s claims to have detonated a miniaturised hydrogen bomb.
Nonetheless, it says, it condemns any violation of UN security council resolutions, which ban North Korea from testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology.
The UN security council will meet in New York on Wednesday 11am ET (4pm GMT) to discuss the North Korean claims.
The UN organisation monitoring the world for signs of nuclear testing confirms it has detected “an unusual event in the Korean peninsula”.
The head of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation, Lassina Zerbo, said:
Our international monitoring system detected an unusual seismic event in the Korean peninsula at latitude 41.27 longitude 129.10.
The location on the map places the epicenter at North Korea’s Pyunggye-ri testing site in its north-eastern mountains, where all of its nuclear tests have been conducted.
What we know so far
- North Korea claims it has successfully detonated a miniaturised hydrogen bomb.
- The test took place on Wednesday at 10am local time (1.30am GMT/Wednesday 12.30pm AEDT/Tuesday 6.30pm ET) at a known nuclear test site at Punggye-ri.
- An announcement on state television claimed the test “worked perfectly” and was “self-defence against the US having numerous and humongous nuclear weapons”.
- If true, this would be North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, and its first using a hydrogen bomb, significantly more powerful than an atomic bomb.
- There has been no independent verification of North Korea’s claims.
- An artificial earthquake of magnitude 5.1 was detected close to Punggye-ri.
- Japan has condemned news of the test, labelling it a threat to Japan’s security.
Yonhap reports that South Korean president Park Geun-hye will chair a national security council meeting to discuss reaction to the hydrogen bomb test.
A standoff between North and South was – temporarily – resolved last August, following talks between the two nations after tensions soared on the peninsula.
North Korea had declared a semi-state of war and an exchange of artillery fire heightened fears that the situation could escalate.
Japan: test is threat to our security
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said the nation would make a firm response to North Korea’s challenge against nuclear non-proliferation, calling its latest nuclear test a threat to Japan’s security.
Abe, speaking to reporters, said Japan absolutely could not tolerate North Korea’s nuclear testing.
Reaction from China, North Korea’s most important supporter, will be key. After the 2013 nuclear test, China expressed “its firm opposition” and warned North Korea to avoid any actions that could worsen the situation on the Korean peninsula.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said North Korea had not informed China that it was about to conduct the test.
The Pyongyang bureau of Xinhua, China’s official news agency, is reporting the claims of the “successful” hydrogen bomb test.
We are, bit by bit, getting translated quotes from the North Korean TV broadcast:
The republic’s first hydrogen bomb test has been successfully performed at 10am on January 6, 2016, based on the strategic determination of the Workers’ party.
With the perfect success of our historic H-bomb, we have joined the rank of advanced nuclear states.
NK News reports the KCTV news announcer as saying:
The US has gathered forces hostile to DPRK and raised a slanderous human rights issue to hinder DPRK’s improvement …
It is just to have H-bomb as self-defence against the US having numerous and humongous nuclear weapons. The DPRK’s fate must not be protected by any forces but DPRK itself.
Updated
North Korea says leader Kim Jong-un signed the order for the hydrogen bomb test on 3 January.
The test “worked perfectly”, according to the official announcement.
This map shows Punggye-ri, site of the artificial earthquake set off by North Korea’s nuclear detonation.
It is difficult to verify North Korea’s claims and other nations will be rushing to investigate its announcement that it has successfully conducted a test of a miniaturised hydrogen nuclear device.
A hydrogen bomb, also known as a thermonuclear bomb, uses more advanced technology to produce a significantly more powerful blast than an atomic bomb.
If the hydrogen bomb claim is true, it would indicate significant advances in the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
In December, Kim Jong-un announced that North Korea had a hydrogen bomb – although others, including South Korea, expressed scepticism.
Kim suggested that North Korea had the capacity to launch a hydrogen bomb, a step up from the less powerful atomic bomb, citing the achievements of his father Kim Jong-il and his grandfather, Kim Il-sung.
The work of Kim Il-sung “turned the DPRK into a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation”, Kim Jong-un was quoted as saying.
North Korea claims the reason for the test is its “legal right” to defend the country against the United States.
The broadcast claimed that if the US does not threaten North Korean sovereignty, it will not need to use nuclear weapons.
The “self-defence” claim is one that Pyongyang has attempted to use before.
Updated
North Korea says the test was of a hydrogen bomb and it was successful.
Nuclear test confirmed
Yonhap says North Korea announces that it has conducted a hydrogen bomb test.
Korean Central Television, which is of course state-run, has begun broadcasting its official statement.
The Guardian’s Japan and Korea correspondent, Justin McCurry, sends this dispatch:
North Korea is thought to have conducted its fourth nuclear test, after a “man-made” earthquake was detected near the country’s main nuclear testing site on Wednesday morning.
Speculation that the regime in Pyongyang had conducted a surprise nuclear test rose after seismologists from South Korea, China and other countries said they were confident the earthquake, which struck at around 10am local time, had been caused by an explosion.
A fourth nuclear test could bring North Korea a step closer to developing a nuclear warhead small enough to be mounted on a long-range missile, and possibly bringing the US mainland within striking distance.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said North Korea had not informed the US or China – its traditional ally – that it was about to conduct a test.
Yonhap added that North Korea was due to make a “major announcement” around midday local time on Wednesday.
The tremor was a “suspected explosion”, the China Earthquake Network Centre said on its website. It gave the magnitude as 4.9.
The US defense department said it was “looking into reports of a possible seismic event near North Korea’s nuclear facilities”, according to a US official.
“We are looking into the reports of a possible seismic event near North Korean nuclear facilities,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The United States Geological Service, meanwhile, said it had detected a 5.1 magnitude quake. South Korean meteorological officials said the epicentre of the quake was 49 kms (30 miles) from the Punggye-ri site in North Hamgyong province, where North Korea has conducted nuclear tests in the past.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said it had also detected unusual seismic activity in North Korea.
South Korean news agency Yonhap reports that the foreign minister Yun Byung-se has convened an emergency meeting in response to the possible nuclear test.
A ministry official said:
The foreign ministry is currently holding a meeting presided over by the minister to immediately determine the situation following the reports.
Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea’s presidential office, plans to hold a session of the national security council over the issue, Yonhap says.
Tremors detected on Wednesday by South Korean officials are a strong indication that Pyongyang has conducted its fourth atomic test.
North Korea drew widespread condemnation in 2013 conducting a nuclear test in defiance of international bans.
Two previous – and smaller – nuclear tests were carried out in 2006 and 2009.
In 2013, experts put the earthquake prompted by the test at between magnitude 4.7 and 5.2.
Those in 2006 and 2009 were 3.9 and 4.5 respectively.
Wednesday’s quake has been preliminarily recorded at magnitude 5.1.
Opening summary
North Korea will make what it calls a “major announcement” at 3.30am GMT (2.30pm AEDT/10.30pm ET) following reports of an earthquake – believed to be artificial – close to what is known to be a nuclear testing site.
The United States Geological Service reported a 5.1 magnitude quake that South Korea said was 49km (30 miles) from the Punggye-ri site where the North has conducted nuclear tests in the past.
An official from the South Korean meteorological administration said: “We suspect a man-made earthquake and are analysing the scale and epicentre of the quake with the geoscience and mineral resource institute of South Korea.”
This live blog will have news of the announcement as it comes, along with reaction from North Korea’s neighbours. I’ll also be tweeting key developments @Claire_Phipps.
You can read our early news on this developing story here:
