North Korea’s biggest nuclear test to date was condemned around the world on Sunday, with the U.N. nuclear watchdog expressing grave concern and Russia saying it could lead to serious consequences.

The explosion of what North Korea said was an advanced hydrogen bomb caused residents across the border in China to flee their homes, fearing an earthquake. Japan and South Korea said it was around 10 times more powerful than the tremor picked up after the last test a year ago.

There was no independent confirmation that the detonation was a hydrogen bomb rather than a less powerful atomic device. But Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tokyo could not rule out the possibility that it was a hydrogen bomb.

The test is a direct challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump, who hours earlier had talked by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the “escalating” nuclear crisis in the region and has previously vowed to stop North Korea developing nuclear weapons that could threaten the United States.

China, North Korea’s sole major ally, said it strongly condemned the nuclear test and urged Pyongyang to stop its “wrong” actions. The United States has repeatedly urged Beijing to do more to rein in its neighbor.

In a statement, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Today, the DPRK conducted nuclear tests again, regardless of the international oppositions, the Chinese government strongly condemns it. It is the China’s firm stance and the general aspiration of the international community to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, safeguard the nuclear non-proliferation system, and maintain peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

“We strongly urge the DPRK to face up to the firm will of the international community on the denuclearization of the peninsula, to earnestly abide by the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, to stop making the wrong actions which will worsen the situation and against of the DPRK’s own interests, and to effectively return to the track of dialogue to solve the problem.

“China will work with the international community to comprehensively and completely implement the relevant resolutions of U.N Security Council, firmly push forward the denuclearization of the peninsula, and maintain the peace and stability of the peninsula.”

South Korea said it was seeking “the toughest retaliation measures” after the North tested another nuclear weapon, a national security official said.

“President Moon Jae-In ordered the toughest retaliation measures against North Korea’s ICBM level missile and nuclear provocations, mobilizing all diplomatic means to totally isolate North Korea,” Chung Eui-Yong, director of the national security office in the South Korean president’s office, said on Sunday in a nationally televised press briefing.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said the international community, including the U.N. Security Council on which the country sits, should react quickly and firmly to North Korea’s latest nuclear test.

“The President of the Republic calls on the members of the United Nations Security Council to quickly react to this new violation by North Korea of international law,” he said in a statement published by his office.

“The international community must treat this new provocation with the utmost firmness, in order to bring North Korea to come back unconditionally to the path of dialogue and to proceed to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of its nuclear and ballistic program.”

Japan also raised the prospect of further sanctions, saying curbs on North Korea’s oil trade would be on the table.

With President Trump yet to respond, the Russian foreign ministry called for calm.

“In the emerging conditions it is absolutely essential to keep cool, refrain from any actions that could lead to a further escalation of tensions,” it said on its website, adding that North Korea risked “serious consequences”.

Moscow urged all sides involved to hold talks, which it said was the only way to resolve the Korean peninsula’s problems. Later on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in China.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog called North Korea’s nuclear program a “grave concern” after the nation, to which the agency’s experts have no access, conducted its sixth nuclear test since 2006.

“Today’s nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is an extremely regrettable act… Once again, I strongly urge them to fully implement all relevant resolutions,” Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The Agency continues to closely follow developments in the DPRKs nuclear program, which is a matter of grave concern.”

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), which monitors seismic and radionuclide data worldwide, said the explosion was stronger than previous ones and was located at the site of earlier nuclear tests.

“If confirmed as a nuclear test, this act would indicate that the DPRK’s nuclear program is advancing rapidly,” the CTBT’s Secretary General Lassina Zerbo said.

The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions but it will only enter into force if all countries with advanced nuclear technology ratify it. The outstanding nations are China, Egypt, North Korea, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States.

“I sincerely hope that this will serve as the final wake-up call to the international community to outlaw all nuclear testing by bringing the CTBT into force,” Zerbo said.

—CNBC contributed to this report.

Source: cnbc china
North Korean bomb prompts condemnation, calls for talks, from leaders around the world