N. KOREA APPEARS TO CONDUCT NUKE TEST
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s military said Sunday that North Korea is believed to have conducted its sixth nuclear test after it detected a strong earthquake, hours after Pyongyang claimed that its leader has inspected a hydrogen bomb meant for a new intercontinental ballistic missile.
South Korea’s weather agency and the Joint Chief of Staff said an artificial 5.6 magnitude quake occurred at 12: 29 p. m. local time, in Kilju, northern Hamgyong Province. The U. S. Geological Survey called the first quake an explosion with a magnitude 6.3.
Shortly after, Yonhap news agency said a second quake was detected with a magnitude 4.6 but South Korea’s weather agency denied another quake occurred. There was no word from the military in Seoul about the possible second quake.
North Korea conducted its fifth test last year in September. In confirmed, the latest test would mark yet another big step forward in North Korean attempts to obtain a nucleararmed missile capable of reaching deep into the U. S. mainland.
The U. S. State Department had no immediate reaction.
The report of the apparent nuclear test came just hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a new, “super explosive” hydrogen bomb meant to be loaded into an intercontinental ballistic missile, Pyongyang’s state media said Sunday.
Photos released by North Korea showed Kim talking with his lieutenants as he observed a silver, peanutshaped device that was apparently the purported thermonuclear weapon destined for an ICBM.