N Korea may test new missile after ‘H-bomb’ tests nerves

North Korea could be preparing another missile launch, the South said today as it strengthened defences following Pyongyang's biggest-ever nuclear test over the weekend followed by a declaration it had a hydrogen bomb.

The drill intended to simulate a strike on North Korea's Pyunggye-ri nuclear test site involved the Hyunmoo ballistic missile system and F-15K fighter jets, reports Yonhap News Agency. Pictures showed South Korean short-range Hyunmoo missiles roaring into the sky from a launch site on the east coast.

The South and the United States will deploy more of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile launchers. Though China and the BRICS nations currently meeting in Beijing condemned the nuclear test, China strongly opposes the deployment of THAAD.

''The training demonstrates the South Korean military's resolve to destroy not only the origin of provocation but also the enemy's leadership and supporting forces if they threaten the security of our people,'' Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Col Roh Jae-cheon told the media.

He added, ''We staged the real-distance shooting exercise, simulating the Punggye-ri area as the origin of provocation.''

The ministry of national defence, meanwhile, said it was preparing for joint measures with the US military for a show of force against the North Korean provocation.

''South Korea and the US are in consultations on appropriate ways on the issue,'' ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said at a press briefing.

Pyongyang said the device it detonated on Sunday was a hydrogen bomb. Technically known as a two-staged thermonuclear device, it is far more powerful than the fission-based devices it is believed to have previously tested. According to the North Korean regime, it could be installed on an intercontinental ballistic missile, an achievement which would be a dangerous advance in its military capabilities.

The international community has unanimously condemned Pyongyang's new atomic test. Seoul and Tokyo have also called for more sanctions on Pyongyang. US President Donald Trump said that he was considering suspending trade with any country doing business with Pyongyang and also hinted at a possible attack on North Korea.

US defence secretary James Mattis said on Sunday in Washington that the US is preparing for and examining all military options.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said his department was preparing measures to "cut off North Korea economically" and ensure anyone trading with it could not do business with the US.

The UN Security Council was meeting today to discuss the test. The meeting was called by the US, France, UK, Japan and South Korea.

The blast threw down a new gauntlet to US President Donald Trump, after the North in July twice tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that appeared to bring much of the US mainland into range, and threatened to send a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam.

South Korean defence ministry officials estimated its strength at 50 kilotons - five times the size of the North's previous nuclear test. They did not confirm whether it was a hydrogen bomb, saying only that "a variety of nuclear material" had been used. But defence minister Song Young-Moo said Seoul believed Pyongyang had succeeded in miniaturising its nuclear weapons to fit into an ICBM.