Michael Hernandez
06 February 2016•Update: 08 February 2016
WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed Friday that a planned North Korean rocket launch would violate UN sanctions, the White House said.
During a telephone call, the leaders agreed to coordinate responses to a Jan. 6 nuclear test, which Pyongyang says was its first successful detonation of a hydrogen bomb.
The claim was met with skepticism by the Obama administration and nuclear experts, but it has nonetheless elicited increased calls for a strong response.
“Both leaders also conveyed that they will not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapon state,” the White House said.
“They agreed that North Korea's planned ballistic missile test would contravene multiple UN Security Council resolutions and represent another provocative and destabilizing action.”
North Korea announced earlier this week that the launch, which it insists is of an observation satellite, would go ahead between Feb. 8 and 25.
Many have dismissed Pyongyang’s satellite claim as similar technology could be used for a ballistic missile.
Japan and South Korea have vowed to shoot down any missile in their respective airspaces that is launched from North Korea.
North Korea last launched a long-range missile in 2012.
