However, this test was considered by many experts to have been a fizzle, with a low explosive yield of just about 1 kiloton. Geological Survey said it had detected a tremor of 4.2 magnitude on the Korean Peninsula, the Times noted at the time. The North announced its first nuclear test - in North Hamgyong Province, according to the Times, which pointed out that this was an area U.S. The test, the North hoped, would ease the transition to Kim Jong Un, by proving the regime's military prowess. were said to have been caught off-guard by the test, The New York Times reported at the time.Īnalysts cited by the Times believed that this test was meant to be a show of strength during a succession crisis, given that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was thought to have had a stroke a few months earlier, in August. The test was conducted in Kilju, in northeastern North Korea, the South Korean government said. The North said it used a "lighter, miniaturized atomic bomb" that still has more explosive force than devices tested previously. on Hiroshima bomb was around 20 kilotons. South Korea said earlier Tuesday that the size of the seismic activity indicated a nuclear explosion a bit bigger larger than Pyongyang's two previous tests, of 6-7 kilotons, Reuters notes. and Washington called a cover for a banned missile test. North Korea faced sanctions after a December launch of a rocket the U.N. hostility that "violently" undermines the North's peaceful, sovereign rights to launch satellites. Official North Korean state media said the test was conducted in a safe manner and is aimed at coping with "outrageous" U.S. South Korea confirmed that the North had indeed carried out the test, and condemned it. Security Council orders to shut down atomic activity or face more sanctions and international isolation. North Korea claimed to have successfully detonated a miniaturized nuclear device at a northeastern test site, state media said, defying U.N. Air Force also sent a WC-135 Constant Phoenix "sniffer" aircraft to test for radiation. Japan's government also said its environmental detectors noted no radiation after the claimed test.
Reuters also reported South Korea's meteorological agency said it hadn't detected any radiation after the supposed test. While the North was said to have deemed the test a "perfect success," Seoul's intelligence agency said the device may not have been a hydrogen bomb, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, according to Reuters.
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