N.Korea nuke test to ‘complicate region’
China firmly opposes Pyongyang’s move
Experts said North Korea’s most powerful “nuclear warhead explosion” test on Friday, carried out despite UN sanctions and strong opposition from international community, would deteriorate the situation in Northeast Asia region.
Seismologists detected a powerful artificial earthquake centered around Punggye-ri, North Korea’s nuclear test site on Friday, and South Korea said the quake was caused by a nuclear device
with a yield of 10 kilotons - the most powerful of Pyongyang’s five nuclear tests to date, according to AFP.
South Korean President Park Geunhye said on Friday that the nuclear test proves the “fanatic recklessness” of Pyongyang adhering to nuclear development in thorough defiance of the international community’s unified will.
Park, who attended the East Asia Summit in the Laotian capital of Vientiane, strongly criticized the test and said it was a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a grave challenge to the international society.
US President Barack Obama, aboard Air Force One on his way home from Laos, said the test would be met with “serious consequences,” and spoke to Park and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the White House said.
China’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday expressing firm opposition to the nuclear test. “We strongly urge the DPRK to honor its commitment to denuclearization, abide by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and halt any moves that could aggravate the situation,” accord- ing to the statement.
Residents in Yanji, a city locates only 10 kilometers from the ChinaNorth Korea border reportedly felt the aftershock. Pictures show that students of a local school were evacuated on the playground. China’s MInistry of Environmental Protection said Friday that the air quality have not been affected by the test.
Rising tensions
The nuclear test, which was expected, would greatly affect the regional situation and further cement South Korea’s decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), Cao Shigong, a research fellow at the Korean Peninsula Research Society of the Chinese Association of Asia-Pacific Studies, told the Global Times.
Cao pointed that Kim Jong-un chose the Friday – North Korea’s Founding Day – to conduct the test after deep consideration. “The test could serve as an opportunity to display Kim Jong-un’s governing capability as well as to unify the military, the people and the ruling Workers Party,” said Cao.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gave an order on March 15 to test a nuclear warhead and ballistic rockets capable of carrying the warhead “in a short time.” Since then, the country has conducted a series of ballistic missile launches, including ground-based ballistic missiles and submarinelaunched ballistic missiles.
The disruptions in Northeast Asia, including souring Sino-South Korean ties over the THAAD deployment and continuing US-South Korea military drills, also provoked North Korea’s test, said Cao.
North Korea always wanted to improve its capability of mounting a nuclear warhead on ballistic missiles, and this test is a watershed since it means North Korea has reached a new level in its nuclear weapons program, Cao said.
Park made a phone call to Obama, agreeing to take all available measures, including tougher UN Security Council sanctions, according to Park’s office.
The US, South Korea and Japan asked for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to address North Korea’s fresh nuclear detonation, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Lia- oning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the test would greatly challenge the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and aggravate tensions in the region, since South Korea would strengthen its will to deploy THAAD and the UN may tighten sanctions on North Korea.
Lü said China has worked with the international community to settle the problem through peace talks and it is unfair for some countries, especially the US, to criticize China for not imposing strict sanctions on North Korea.
The US has taken a hostile attitude and conducted several military drills targeted at North Korea, which is one reason North Korea accelerated the nuclear tests, Lü said.
China will lodge a representation with the North Korea over the nuclear test and China strongly urged relevant parties to focus on the big picture, watch their words and actions and avoid confrontation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a press conference Friday.
The security concerns of relevant parties should be solved in accordance with their common interests, Hua said on the press conference.