International community condemns North Korea nuclear test

WASHINGTON (AFP) — World leaders pour condemnation on North Korea after Pyongyang claimed it had successfully tested a missile-ready hydrogen bomb.

US President Donald Trump said Pyongyang’s actions were “very hostile and dangerous to the United States.”

Pyongyang’s key ally China also expressed strong condemnation, while South Korean President Moon Jae-In called for the “strongest punishment” against the North, including new UN sanctions to “completely isolate” it.

The UN Security Council plans to hold an emergency meeting Monday morning to discuss the international response to the test. UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres condemned the North Korean test as “profoundly destabilizing.”

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have spiraled in recent weeks, with North Korea testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and threatening to fire missiles towards the US Pacific island of Guam, which prompted Trump to warn he would rain “fire and fury” on the country.

“North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States,” Trump tweeted.

Later Sunday, he posted that the US was considering, “in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.”

Such a move could have a big impact on China, a key provider of aid and trade to the North, and which is seen as the only country holding any real influence over its truculent neighbor.

Their relations have become more strained in recent years, however, in part because of Pyongyang’s dogged pursuit of its nuclear program in the face of international condemnation.

Beijing, which is hosting a summit of the five BRICS nations, said it “expresses resolute opposition and strong condemnation” over Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test, which was felt in Chinese cities hundreds of kilometres from North Korea’s borders.