ESCALATION

North Korea: We Did Our Biggest Nuke Yet

Claims “breakthrough” will mean more missiles to come.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency on Friday confirmed that North Korea successfully conducted its most powerful nuclear test yet, with an explosion that several countries marked as a 5.3-magnitude seismic event. “This has definitely put on a higher level [the North’s] technology of mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic rockets,” the outlet reported, touting the test as a breakthrough for Pyongyang. “The standardization of the nuclear warhead will enable [North Korea] to produce at will and as many as it wants a variety of smaller, lighter, and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power.” Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called the test “deeply troubling.” “This is in clear violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions and in complete disregard of the repeated demands of the international community,” he said. President Obama said the test will have “serious consequences.” Obama was reportedly briefed on the issue while aboard Air Force One.