North Korea has warned the top US military commander
stationed in South Korea that his forces would "meet a
miserable destruction" if they go ahead with scheduled
military drills with South Korean troops, North Korean state
media said.
North Korea has conducted a nuclear test today, South Korea's
defence ministry said, after seismic activity measuring 4.9
magnitude was registered by the US Geological Survey.
The UN Security Council is united on North Korea's nuclear
arms programme and will undoubtedly approve tough measures
against Pyongyang if it carries out a new atomic test as
expected, South Korean UN Ambassador Kim Sook says.
North Korea has threatened to attack rival South Korea if
Seoul joins a new round of tightened UN sanctions, as
Washington unveils more of its own economic restrictions
following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month.
The White House has denounced threats by North Korea to carry
out further rocket launches and a nuclear test as "needlessly
provocative," saying such actions would violate UN
resolutions and increase Pyongyang's diplomatic isolation.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for an end to
confrontation between the two Koreas, technically still at
war in the absence of a peace treaty to end their 1950-53
conflict, in a surprise New Year speech broadcast on state
media.
The UN Security Council has condemned North Korea's missile
launch and will continue discussions on how to respond to
Pyongyang's violations of a UN ban on North Korean ballistic
missile development, the council president said.
North Korea will likely postpone the launch of a long-range
rocket, state news agency KCNA says, but gave no reasons for
delaying the plan which has been widely condemned by
countries including Russia and the United States.
A North Korean soldier killed two of his officers before
crossing the heavily mined border into South Korea today,
South Korea's defence ministry and media reports said.
