South Korea: North Korea conducts fifth nuclear test: Including VIDEO

South Korea: North Korea conducts fifth nuclear test

VIDEO

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/08/asia/north-korea-seismic-activity

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By Katie Hunt and KJ Kwon, CNN

Updated 0342 GMT (1142 HKT) September 9, 2016

(CNN)North Korea conducted a fifth nuclear test Friday, potentially its most powerful yet, South Korean officials said.

Seismic activity, with a magnitude of 5.3, was detected around 9 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET) near Punggye-ri, Kilju County -- the same location as four other tests, the most recent of which was in January.

South Korea condemned the test and said it was a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution.

"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," South Korean President Park Geun-hye said in a statement.

The blast had the explosive power of 10 kilotons, almost twice as large as the previous test, said Kim Nam-wook, a South Korea's Meteorological Administration.

By comparison, the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 15 kilotons.

"We are currently analyzing whether it was a successful test," a defense ministry official told CNN.

A US official told CNN that it looked like a nuclear test but confirmation would be dependent on seismic readings, location of the seismic event and whether it can be matched to an underground test site.

Sniffer planes

The US Air Force is expected to start flying the WC-135 Constant Phoenix Aircraft in the coming hours to take air samples and see if it can determine a nuclear event occurred. Japan has sent four jets to test for radiation.

Satellite images had shown new activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in recent weeks, according to North Korea monitoring site 38North.

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