N. Korea's Kim Calls Nuclear Test a 'Self-Defensive Step'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says his country conducted a hydrogen bomb test Wednesday as "a self-defensive step for reliably defending" the Korean Peninsula from the danger of nuclear war caused by "U.S.-led imperialists." Kim's comments, reported Saturday by North Korea's official KCNA news agency, came during what the agency described as a "congratulatory" visit by him to the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces. His address was Pyongyang's first official response to the test, which angered traditional ally China and set off a firestorm of criticism in many world capitals. Hours after global sensors detected the blast, the U.N. Security Council met in an emergency session to craft new sanctions against North Korea for its latest violation of U.N. policy. In a statement, the council said the test posed "a clear threat to international peace and security." For his part, Kim called the nuclear test "the legitimate right of a sovereign state and a fair action that nobody can criticize." He also linked the blast to the alleged U.S. deployment of nuclear weapons in South Korea. The United States has said it has no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula. However, U.S. officials said the test had prompted negotiators to open talks with Seoul about the possible deployment of strategic weapons in South Korea. International experts said the test measured too small to qualify as a full hydrogen bomb test, while political analysts said it might have been designed to draw attention to the reclusive communist state ahead of a rare and crucial meeting of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party.   In his address, Kim referred to upcoming congress, noting that the test and the party meeting were just months apart. The country's seventh party congress, set for May, will be the first such gathering since 1980. Kim described the congress as "a historic turning point" in accomplishing the country's "revolutionary" ideology.
Source: http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-kim-calls-nuclear-test-self-defensive-step/3138691.html