EU, Japan, S Korea Agree to Coordinate Response to N Korea's Nuclear Test

The European Union, Japan and South Korea have agreed to coordinate a joint response to North Korea, within the framework of the United Nations after Pyongyang made allegations of carrying out a hydrogen bomb test, the European Union External Action service said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, North Korea claimed it had carried out its first test of a hydrogen bomb. Following the incident, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini held a telephone conversation with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Yun Byung-se and Fumio Kishida, respectively.

The sides "discussed the way ahead, beginning this afternoon with an urgent session of the UN Security Council. They agreed on the need for a strong, coordinated and united reaction by the international community, including in the UN and in the G7, which Japan is currently chairing," the statement read.

Brussels, Tokyo and Seoul have also expressed the need to verify the claims.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, having earlier withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that it ratified in 1985.

The United States, Japan and South Korea, as well as Russia and China, took part in talks on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula with North Korea from 2003 until 2009, when Pyongyang withdrew from the talks.