North Korea said Tuesday that it had conducted a new, more powerful underground nuclear test using more sophisticated technology, jolting the already fragile security situation in Northeast Asia and drawing condemnation from around the globe. It is the first nuclear test carried out under the North's young leader, Kim Jong Un, according to a report of CNN. The nuclear test Tuesday, which follows previous detonations by the North in 2006 and 2009, had greater explosive force and involved the use of a smaller, lighter device, the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. After Pyongyang confirmed it had gone ahead with the test in defiance of international pressure, world leaders responded with condemnation. 'This is a highly provocative act' that threatens regional stability, breaches U.N. resolutions and increases the risk of proliferation, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement. 'North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs constitute a threat to U.S. national security and to international peace and security,' he said. 'It is a clear and grave violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions,' the office of Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, said in a statement referring to the test. The United Nations Security Council will meet in New York on Tuesday morning to discuss the development, a security council diplomat said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the test was 'extremely regrettable,' adding that Tokyo would 'strongly' protest it. Kim Min-seok, a spokesman for the South Korean defense ministry, said the magnitude of the 'artificial tremor' suggested the size of the blast could be in the order of 6 to 7 kilotons, more powerful than the North's two prior nuclear tests.
