South Korean, UK Foreign Ministers Discuss North Korean Nuclear Test

South Korean Foreign Ministry reports that the country's foreign minister and her UK counterpart discussed Pyongyang's latest nuclear test in a phone conversation and reached an agreement to cooperate on the issue.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her UK counterpart Boris Johnson held a phone conversation and discussed the recent nuclear test carried out by North Korea and agreed to cooperate in order to put pressure on Pyongyang, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a Monday statement.

"Minister Kang expressed the position of the South Korean authorities on the issue and stressed the need to change the position of North Korea by strengthening the [anti-Pyongyang] sanctions and pressure [put] on North Korea up to the maximal level. She had also expressed hope for an active support of the United Kingdom," the statement said.

The statement added that the UK diplomat said that London condemned the nuclear test and would fully back Seoul's position as for the situation on the Korean peninsula both within the framework of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and in talks with other countries, such as China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

On Sunday, North Korea said that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded on an intercontinental ballistic missile. According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, the bomb had a yield of up to 70 kilotonnes.