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North Korea confirms 'successful' nuclear test; China, Japan, South Korea 'firmly oppose' it

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on Friday condemned the fifth and biggest nuclear test by North Korea in the morning, even as the hostile nation hailed the test as ‘successful’.

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Arshi Aggarwal
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North Korea confirms 'successful' nuclear test; China, Japan, South Korea 'firmly oppose' it

North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe (File photo)

North Korea on Friday confirmed that it conducted a successful "nuclear warhead explosion" test earlier in the day. According to media reports, the fifth and biggest nuclear test by North Korea was meant to counter what Pyongyang calls U.S. hostility, news agency AP said.

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North Korea's government news agency KCNA has said that Friday's test confirmed nuclear warhead can be mounted on rockets. 

A 5.3 magnitude seismic event was detected northwest of North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear testing site on 9:30am on Friday, suggesting that the country has carried out its fifth nuclear test. The United States Geological Survey reported the depth of the quake at 0 kilometers, strongly suggesting that Friday’s event was a nuclear test.

Read more:

North Korea: 5.3 magnitude quake sets alarm for fifth nuclear test

China on Friday expressed ‘firm opposition’ to the nuclear test conducted by North Korea, believed to be its most powerful atomic explosion ever. State-run Xinhua news agency briefly quoted a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement ‘firmly opposing’ the test.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe has also condemned the test. Japan, who is the immediate neighbour of North Korea, has deemed the test as 'absolutely unacceptable'. 

According to news agency AFP, the White House has said that US President Barack Obama is consulting with South Korea and Japan on North Korea's test. 

South Korea's Yonhap news agency has reported that according to their military, North Korea’s Friday nuclear test is its 'most powerful to date'. 

South Korean President Park Geun-hye called the test a 'self-destructive' provocation by its arch enemy. 

In January, North Korea announced it had carried out a "successful" hydrogen bomb test and in recent months it has carried out a number of ballistic missile launches, all of which were in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

Pyongyang has been repeatedly testing various ballistic missiles, including its first submarine-launched ballistic missile. Earlier this week, during the G20 meeting in Hangzhou, China, Pyongyang launched previously unseen Scud-ER missiles.

North Korea Nuclear Tests North Korean nuclear program