South Condemns Latest N. Korean Nuke Test as 'Fanatic Recklessness'
For the fifth time, North Korea has launched a successful test of its most powerful nuclear warhead.
The state media said the warhead could be mounted on ballistic rockets and allow North Korea to create "a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power."
The explosive yield was reportedly 70 to 80 percent of the force of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Seismic activity, with a magnitude of 5.3, was felt around 9 a.m.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye condemned the test, calling it an act of "fanatic recklessness."
"The only thing that Kim Jong Un regime can gain from the nuclear tests is stronger sanctions from the international community and its isolation. Such provocation will eventually hasten its path to self-destruction," she warned.
President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
The president spoke separately to the South Korean and Japanese leaders by phone and reassured them of the "unbreakable U.S. commitment to the security of our allies in Asia and around the world."
