North Korea may have conducted nuclear test — Seoul

The North Korean national flag flies at the North Korean embassy in Beijing on March 8, 2017.  AFP

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea appears to have conducted a sixth nuclear test, the South’s Yonhap News Agency said Sunday citing military officials, just hours after Pyongyang claimed to have developed a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded into a long-range missile.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded what it initially described as a shallow 5.1-magnitude “mining explosion” 24 kilometers (15 miles) east northeast of Sungjibaegam in North Korea, in an updated report.

The USGS later revised the force of the quake to magnitude 6.3, which it said was larger than that any previous test.

An artificial quake was detected at 12:36 p.m. in areas in the North Hamgyeong Province, the Korea Meteorological Administration told AFP. CBB