N. Korea tests hydrogen bomb, its biggest; world for sanctions
Trump blasts Pyongyang, says appeasement won’t work
Seoul, Sept. 3: North Korea said on Sunday that it tested a hydrogen bomb which it can mount on a missile, declaring its biggest-ever nuclear detonation a “perfect success” and sparking a strong rebuke from US President Donald Trump who slammed its actions as “dangerous” to the US.
Pyongyang residents threw their arms aloft in triumph as a jubilant television newsreader hailed the “unprecedentedly large” blast.
It “marked a very significant occasion in attaining the final goal of completing the state nuclear force”, she added.
But, global reaction to the country’s sixth nuclear test was swift and angry, with many countries demanding more sanctions. China rebuked its ally and began emergency monitoring for radiation at its border with the North.
Mr Trump said on Twitter Pyongyang’s “words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States”.
“South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they (North Korea) only understand one thing!” he added.
Hours before the test the North released images of leader Kim Jong-Un at the Nuclear Weapons Institute, inspecting what it said
was a miniaturised Hbomb that could be fitted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
China lost no time in issuing “strong condemnation” of the test, which overshadowed the opening of the Brics summit in Xiamen.
Beijing/Seoul, Sept 3: President Donald Trump led international censure of North Korea’s announcement on Sunday that it had tested a hydrogen bomb saying its actions were “very hostile and dangerous to the United States”.
“North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States,” Mr Trump tweeted.
“North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success,” he said.
Mr Trump had previously pledged the North would not get an ICBM and has warned that Washington’s weapons are “locked and loaded”.
Later on Sunday, Mr Trump was to convene his national security team to weigh options including drastic economic sanctions against North Korea.
“The national security team is monitoring this closely,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in announcing the urgent meeting on a US holiday weekend.
A series of US and United Nations-backed sanctions against the North have had little apparent effect on Pyongyang, as North Korean leader Kim Jongun has repeatedly seemed to brush off Mr Trump’s strongest warnings.
But US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that his department was preparing potent new measures that would completely “cut off North Korea economically.”
“I’m going to draft a sanctions package and send it to the president for his strong consideration that anybody that wants to do trade or business with them will be prevented from doing trade or business with us,” Mr Mnuchin said on Fox News Sunday.
But he also said that Mr Trump had made it clear that he will “look at all our options”.
While the United States has virtually no trade with the North, the burden of sanctions such as Mr Mnuchin described would fall heavily on China, which buys about 90% of North Korean exports.
China, the North’s sole major ally, issued a “strong condemnation” of the test.
China, in a statement, said it “expresses resolute opposition and strong condemnation” over Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test, which was felt even in Chinese cities.