Natural tremor near N Korea test site
SEOUL: A natural earthquake of 2.5-magnitude occurred on Saturday near North Korea’s nuclear test site, the fourth such tremor since the country’s most recent atomic explosion there, South Korean officials said.
The micro-quake occurred about 2.7 km northeast of the Punggye-ri nuclear site in the country’s northeastern province of North Hamgyong, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. “The quake is a natural one and it is believed to have occurred in the aftermath of the sixth nuclear test,” it said.
Minor tremors have been detected after the North carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test underground in September, it added.
UNSC TO HOLD MEETING ON NORTH KOREA
Japan announced on Saturday it will host a ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council on December 15 focused on finding peaceful ways to pressure North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile tests and denuclearise the Korean peninsula.
Japan’s UN ambassador Koro Bessho said more must be done beyond the “very robust” sanctions that the council has already imposed targeting the financing and materials for Kim Jong Un’s nuclear and missile programs. Secretary-general Antonio Guterres is expected to brief the council, and US officials say Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is likely to attend.