After the test, the North's nuclear weapons institute said it will take unspecified measures to further boost its nuclear capability, which analysts said hinted at a possible sixth nuclear test. Bad weather Monday delayed for at least 24 hours a U.S. plan to send warplanes from Guam to South Korea, as it has done after past provocations by North Korea. North Korea's pursuit of missiles and nuclear weapons is one of the most intractable foreign policy problems for the U.S. and South Korea. The toughest U.N. sanctions in two decades were imposed on the North for its fourth nuclear test in January, but the new test raised a question over whether sanctions can force a change in North Korea. The Korean Peninsula remains technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Source: New Zealand Herald September 12, 2016 05:26 UTC