REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PYONGYANG -- North Korea claimed Wednesday (6/1) to successfully conducted a powerful hydrogen bomb test. It was a defiant and surprising move that, if confirmed, would be a huge jump in Pyongyang's quest to improve its still-limited nuclear arsenal.

Local media in a typically propaganda-heavy statement stated that North Korea had tested a "miniaturized" hydrogen bomb, elevating the country's "nuclear might to the next level" and providing it with a weapon to defend against the United States and its other enemies, Al Jazeera reported.

South Korea said it would consult with its allies and regional powers to get North Korea to face the consequences of the nuclear test it said it had carried out, such as additional U.N. sanctions.

South Korean security official Cho Tae-yong said: "We strongly condemn the test, adding that North Korea must abide by U.N. resolutions that require the country to scrap its nuclear and ballistic missile programs completely and irreversibly."

South Korea's Defense Ministry stated, without elaborating, that it was bolstering its security posture in response to the North's fourth such test.

There has long been skepticism by Washington and nuclear experts on past North Korean claims about H-bombs, which are much more powerful, and much more difficult to make, than atomic bombs. But a confirmed test would be seen as extremely worrying and lead to a strong push for new, tougher sanctions on North Korea at the United Nations. It would also further worsen already abysmal relations between Pyongyang and its neighbors.

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