DOUBTS GROW OVER N. KOREAN NUKE CLAIM

U.N. condemns alleged test of hydrogen bomb

The U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea on Wednesday and pledged to impose new sanctions after the reclusive nation claimed it conducted a successful test of a powerful hydrogen bomb for the first time.

North Korea’s claim was met with widespread skepticism. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the initial analysis by U.S. intelligence agencies is “not consistent with North Kore- an claims of a successful hydrogen bomb test.”

Initial indications were that the force of the explosion was consistent with a less potent atomic bomb, which North Korea has detonated in three prior tests.

A hydrogen bomb is larger and more complex than an atomic bomb. South Korea’s intelligence agency said the power of the explosion was smaller than what a hydrogen, or thermonuclear, bomb would produce. It could be several weeks before a conclusive determination is made.

Still, any nuclear test by North Korea will further isolate the rogue nation.

After the Security Council held an emergency closed-door meeting Wednesday, it issued a statement calling the test “a clear violation” of council resolutions and “therefore a clear threat to international peace and security continues to exist.”

This would be the fifth round of United Nations sanctions, which have done little to dampen the nation’s efforts to pursue nuclear weapons. Pyongyang ’s goal is to build a warhead that can be mounted on a missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

Even China, North Korea’s main ally, said it “firmly opposes” the test, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

“China is steadfast in its position that the Korean Peninsula should be denuclearized and nuclear proliferation be prevented,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.