President Park Geun-hye and U.S. President Barack Obama have agreed to work together for the swift adoption of a new, stronger UN Security Council resolution against North Korea, following the regime’s self-proclaimed hydrogen nuclear test.

Seoul's presidential office said that Obama and Park held a twenty minute talk on Thursday and agreed to cooperate at the UN stage.

As the government launched into diplomatic efforts to push for international sanctions on the North, the UN Security Council also vowed swift action against North Korea.

During an emergency meeting Wednesday, the 15 members of the council vowed fresh sanctions against North Korea for its fourth nuclear test. All eyes are now on China, a permanent council member, to see if it will actively join the move.
The key ally of the North had long opted to remain neutral in relation to the North’s provocations, calling on all parties “to respond in a cool-headed manner.”

But, the statement issued by China’s foreign ministry in response to the latest North Korean nuclear test made clear that China was “firmly opposed” to North Korea’s nuclear test.

The international community was left in the dark about the North’s attempt to conduct its latest nuclear test. The test was only discovered after seismic activity was detected at 10:30 a.m. Seoul time on Wednesday from the northeastern part of the North where its Punggye-ri nuclear facility is located.

Two hours later, the North’s official Korean Central Television made a special announcement and said that its first “hydrogen bomb test” was carried out successfully.

But, Seoul’s intelligence authorities doubt whether the North’s Hydrogen bomb claim is true. In a report to the parliament, the National Intelligence Service said they got a reading of six kilotons from Wednesday’s explosion in the North. This is less than the seven-point-nine kiloton reading recorded in its 2013 test.

In any case, the North’s provocation will strain inter-Korean relations.
The South Korean government resumed loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts near the inter-Korean border as of noon Friday.

The anti-North Korea broadcasts were resumed mid-August last year for the first time in eleven years, but were stopped following the inter-Korean agreement reached on August 25.