'Nuclear Weapons on the Rise Again' - Watchdog on N Korea's Bomb Test

A recent alleged nuclear test carried out by North Korea is another worrying proof that the role of nuclear weapons is on the rise again, Beatrice Fihn, the Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), told Sputnik on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — Earlier in the day, Pyongyang claimed it had carried out the first test of a hydrogen bomb.

"This test is another sign that the role of nuclear weapons might be on the rise again, which is very worrying," Fihn said.

She condemned the move by Pyongyang that "looks like a nuclear test."

The move prompted a number of countries to consider the possibility of introducing the UN Security Council resolutions, which would both condemn the alleged nuclear test and impose restrictive measures.

"New sanctions [from the Security Council] are reasonable. But we have to remember that the permanent members of the Security Council all have nuclear weapons themselves… As long as one or several countries believe that nuclear weapons are a legitimate tool to defend a country, others will want to have it. The test of North Korea is just the result of other countries’ claiming that nuclear weapons are a good security [measure]," Fihn stressed.

Though the reasons for the chosen timing of the bomb test are unknown, the move anyway will be seen as "a hostile act and provocation" if confirmed, Fihn added.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country possessed a hydrogen bomb and was ready to use it to "protect its sovereignty and national dignity" in late 2015.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005, and has conducted at least three underground nuclear weapon tests since then, raising concerns both in the neighboring states and worldwide.