North Korea carries out third nuclear test
North Korea says it has successfully conducted third underground nuclear test,
PYONGYANG (AP) - North Korea says it has tested a "miniaturized" nuclear device in defiance of U.N. orders to stop building atomic weapons.
Official state media reported Tuesday that it was conducted in a safe manner.
This third nuclear test could take North Korea closer to its goal of building a nuclear warhead small enough to be mounted on a long-range missile.
An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale was detected just north of a site where Pyongyang conducted nuclear tests in 2009.
The South Korean Defence Ministry, which raised its military alert level after the quake, said the blast had an explosive yield of between six and seven kilotonnes.
Spokesman Kim Min Seok said it had "enormous destructive power".
A UN nuclear test monitoring organisation detected what it called an "unusual seismic event" in North Korea.
Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), said the event s location was "roughly congruent with" nuclear tests carried out by North Korea in 2006 and 2009.
"If confirmed as a nuclear test, this act would constitute a clear threat to international peace and security, and challenge efforts made to strengthen global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, in particular by ending nuclear testing," he added.
The UN Security Council will hold urgent talks on the blast later.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "I strongly condemn this development, which is a violation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1718, 1874 and 2087.
"North Korea s development of its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities poses a threat to international and regional security.
"Its repeated provocations only serve to increase regional tension, and hinder the prospects for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula."
