The U.S. intelligence chief says Washington has confirmed that North Korea conducted a nuclear test last month.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said in a statement Monday that the U.S. intelligence community assesses that North Korea probably conducted an underground nuclear explosion in the vicinity of Punggye-ri on May 25th.
He added that the explosion yield was approximately a few kilotons. Blair said the U.S. is continuing to analyze the explosion.

The U.S. estimate differs from that of Russia's Defense Ministry, which put the estimated yield of the underground explosion at ten to 20 kilotons.

According to the U.S. Air Force, the two atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Japan in 1945 each had a yield of about 15 kilotons.

Prior to Blair’s remark, Washington had been hesitant to issue a final statement on the North’s recent nuclear test.

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