OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Steinmeier denounces the latest nuclear test in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and calls for international reaction

BERLIN, 6 January 2016 - OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, condemned today the latest nuclear test in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and called on the international community to react resolutely.

“According to what we know so far, we must assume that North Korea conducted another nuclear test last night. Should this prove to be true, we condemn the test in the strongest possible terms,” Steinmeier said in Berlin. 

He pointed out that the DPRK’s nuclear programme and repeated nuclear tests posed serious threats to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula. Steinmeier said:  “They are an attack on the global non-proliferation regime. With this renewed violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, North Korea is breaching the principles of the international community and endangering regional and international security.”

Steinmeier urged the DPRK to adhere to the United Nations Security Council resolutions and to return to the negotiating table. “The international community must now react resolutely and unambiguously to North Korea’s conduct. The OSCE can play an important role in this as part of the international community,” Steinmeier concluded.

According to official statements by the DPRK, it detonated a hydrogen bomb for the first time in its latest test on 6 January 2016. Independent confirmation that a nuclear weapon was tested is not yet available. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea borders OSCE participating State Russia as well as OSCE partners for Co-operation the Republic of Korea and Japan.