Kim Jong Un has announced plans for a fifth North Korean nuclear bomb test, less than two weeks after the UN Security Council passed new sanctions over Pyongyang’s recent tests of nuclear and ballistic missile technology.
State media on Tuesday quoted the country’s leader as saying that “a nuclear warhead explosion test . . . will be conducted in a short time”, as well as test launches of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.
The announcement is in keeping with North Korea’s defiant response to the UN resolution on March 2, which imposed the strongest sanctions so far against the country. These included requiring member states to inspect all cargo bound to or from North Korea, banning all sales of arms to the country and prohibiting imports of North Korean minerals such as gold and rare earth metals.