06 January 2016•Update: 07 January 2016
BEIJING
The United Kingdom led calls Wednesday for an international response to North Korean claims it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
In a statement issued during a trip to China's capital Beijing, UK Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond said that if confirmed the detonation was a grave breach of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
"It underlines the very real threat that North Korea represents to regional and international security," Hammond underlined.
"We will be working with other UN Security Council members to ensure the international community responds urgently and decisively to this latest activity."
Hosts China said that it "firmly" opposed the test in a statement issued by its Foreign Ministry.
"China is steadfast in its position that the Korean Peninsula should be denuclearized and nuclear proliferation be prevented to maintain peace and stability in Northeast Asia," state news agency Xinhua reported spokesperson Hua Chunying as saying.
"We strongly urge the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] to honor its commitment to denuclearization, and to cease any action that may deteriorate the situation," Hua added.
Elsewhere, the United States slammed what White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price called North Korean "provocations" and vowed it would respond appropriately.
"While we cannot confirm these claims at this time, we condemn any violation of UNSC [United Nations Security Council] resolutions and again call on North Korea to abide by its international obligations and commitments," Price said in a statement.
Meanwhile, France's president's office, Elysee, said in a statement that while it awaited confirmation of the test, it condemned the Security Council violation and called for a strong reaction.
Pyongyang’s state-run KCNA made a noon announcement that the "historic test" had been carried out under the orders of leader Kim Jong-un -- who last month warned for the first time that his country was "ready to detonate a self-reliant H-bomb”.
Hydrogen bombs involve both fission and fusion reactions to generate even more power than single-stage atomic weapons.
South Korea’s presidential office described what would be North Korea’s fourth ever nuclear test as “a clear violation” of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
Deputy chief of national security Cho Tae-yong added that the South would work with other nations to do everything possible to punish Pyongyang.
North Korea's boast that it had “proudly joined the advanced ranks of nuclear weapons states” also came ahead of Kim Jong-un’s birthday this Friday.
Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director from Human Rights Watch, was keen to prevent the authoritarian leader from diverting attention away from humanitarian concerns.
"Kim Jong-Un may think it appropriate to celebrate his birthday early with a nuclear test, but even a hydrogen bomb should not cause the world to forget that the Kim family's hereditary dictatorship is built on the systematic brutalization and abuse of the North Korean people," Robertson said in a statement sent to Anadolu Agency.
The North Korean leader's birthday is Jan. 8
"The only birthday present that Kim Jong-Un should get from the international community is a one way trip to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he should be put on trial for crimes against humanity."
* Anadolu Agency correspondents Hajer M'tiri, Michael Daventry, Ilgin Karlidag and Alex Jensen contributed to this article from Paris, London, Brussels and Seoul respectively
