Russia, South Korea to decide response for North’s nuclear test

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se, are going to talk about how they will respond to North Korea’s nuclear test on Jan 6.

According to the South Korean foreign ministry, the telephonic conversation between the two foreign ministers is scheduled at 11 am Moscow time (7 pm in Sydney) on Jan 13. South Korean experts believe that Russia is going to play a key role in imposing fresh sanctions against the North in the United Nations Security Council, TASS News Agency reports.

Pyongyang claimed to have carried out a successful hydrogen bomb test on Jan 6. However, experts have claimed the North used old footage of a Scud missile launch to convince the world about the reported hydrogen bomb test.

According to a California-based think-tank, Pyongyang used 2014 Scud missile launch clippings. South Korean experts claim the footage is two years old.

Melissa Hanham, of the US Middlebury Institute James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), said heavy editing techniques were used to make it look convincing.

"They used different camera angles and editing to make it appear that the launch was several continuous launches,” The Mirror quoted Hanham as saying. "But played side by side you can see that it is the same event."

The North, however, claimed it did carry out a hydrogen bomb test which had “no adverse impacts on the environmental situation.” Pyongyang says it now has “the strongest deterrent forces.”

This is, nevertheless, not the first time the North carried out a nuclear test. It has conducted three other tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013. The UNSC imposed a number of sanctions against the country after it carried out the tests.

The West is doubtful about the North’s claim that it had developed a more powerful hydrogen bomb.