UNSC plans to meet on North Korea's most powerful nuclear test

The UN Security Council will meet today to discuss North Korea’s fifth and most powerful nuclear test to date. The 15 council members will meet at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) for urgent consultations, at the request of the United States and Japan, said the New Zealand mission. New Zealand holds this month’s presidency of the Security Council.

North Korea’s state media said the test, which comes after a series of ballistic missile launches, had realized the country’s goal of being able to fit a miniaturized warhead on a rocket.

The blast at the Punggye-ri nuclear site was the North’s fifth and most powerful yet at 10 kilotons, according to experts.

The council has strongly condemned North Korea’s missile launches and vowed earlier this week to take “further significant measures” against Pyongyang.

Japan is calling for new sanctions, but China, Pyongyang’s ally, has repeatedly stressed the need to avoid an escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula. North Korea has been hit by five sets of UN sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.