A defiant North Korea on Sunday restated its demand for recognition as a “legitimate” nuclear-armed state, as world powers pondered ways to punish Pyongyang for its latest and largest atomic test. In Japan, a visiting senior U.S. envoy said Washington and Tokyo were seeking “the strongest possible” measures in response. North Korea insists that its missile and nuclear tests are necessary to counter what it says is a U.S. nuclear threat to its independence. The UN Security Council agreed on Friday to start work on new measures — even though five sets of UN sanctions since the first nuclear test in 2006 have failed to halt the North’s nuclear drive. Sung Kim, the U.S. State Department’s special representative for North Korea policy, said Washington and Tokyo would work closely in the Security Council and beyond “to come up with the strongest possible measure against North Korea’s latest action”.

Source: The Hindu September 11, 2016 10:41 UTC