North Korea’s nuclear test condemned

Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea

North Korea said it conducted a “higher level” nuclear test explosion Friday that will allow it to finally build an array of stronger, smaller and lighter nuclear weapons, a move strongly condemned by the U.N. Security Council, which promised new measures against Pyongyang.

The North’s fifth atomic test and the second in eight months brought the U.N.’s most powerful body into emergency session, just three days after it strongly condemned North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launches.

South Korea’s president said the detonation, which Seoul estimated was the North’s biggest in explosive yield, was an act of “fanatic recklessness” and a sign that leader Kim Jong Un “is spiraling out of control.”

President Barack Obama condemned the test and said the U.S. would never accept the country as a nuclear power.