World reactions

China “We strongly urge the DPRK to honor its commitment to denuclearization, and to cease any action that may deteriorate the situation,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye vowed a tough response to DPRK’s bomb test. She said the government “must get North Korea to face corresponding measures based on close cooperation with the international community”. United States The White House said it can’t confirm the nuclear test, but said it would condemn such a test as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Russia Foreign Ministry said it hasn’t been confirmed that the DPRK has carried out an actual nuclear test. The ministry called on “all interested sides to preserve maximum restraint and to not take actions that could rouse the uncontrolled growth of tensions in Northeast Asia”. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the DPRK announcement of a hydrogen bomb test is a threat to his nation’s safety. “We absolutely cannot allow this, and condemn it strongly.”

EU The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the DPRK’s nuclear test, if confirmed, would represent “a grave violation of the DPRK’s international obligations not to produce or test nuclear weapons”. United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said that if a nuclear bomb has been detonated, it would be a grave breach of UN Security Council resolutions. France President Francois Hollande said “France condemns this unacceptable violation of Security Council resolutions and called for a strong reaction from the international community”.