An unapologetic North Korea declared Tuesday that it had conducted a test of a nuclear bomb after the detonation was detected by the U.S. Geological Survey.

"On February 12th... we successfully conducted a third underground nuclear test in the northern underground nuclear test site," the Daily NK reported, in a translation of Pyongyang's announcement on the state-run news agency, KCNA.

By conducting the test, the isolated authoritarian regime made good on a Jan. 24 pledge by North Korea's top military organ, the National Defense Commission, in further defiance of admonitions from the international community to cease and desist in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

---

The test was met with condemnation from around the globe. The White House called it a "highly provocative act" that warrants "further swift and credible action from the international community." Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Beijing was "strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed" to the move by its neighbor and long-time Communist ally.

 

South Korea and Japan convened emergency meetings of their top national security officials, while the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Tuesday, after which it promised to "begin work immediately" to draft a new resolution against the North.

The explosion was registered as a 5.1-magnitude seismic event by the USGS at 9:57 p.m. ET Monday. The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence quickly judged that North Korea had "probably conducted an underground nuclear explosion" with a yield of "several kilotons."

In a statement, President Barack Obama said the test "undermines regional stability, violates North Korea's obligations under numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions, contravenes its [international] commitments … and increases the risk of proliferation" in the wake of what he described as a "ballistic missile launch" by North Korea on Dec. 12.

"North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs constitute a threat to U.S. national security and to international peace and security," Obama said. 

U.S. officials have previously told NBC News that North Korea has up to a "few dozen" nuclear weapons that could be fitted on ballistic missiles, far more than had previously been believed.

Obama on Tuesday said that "the danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community," adding that the U.S. would work with the international community to "pursue firm action."

'Vile hostile acts'
In a tit-for-tat that has characterized a diplomatic stalemate for decades, North Korea blamed the United States for forcing its hand.

"This nuclear test was conducted as part of measures to safeguard the country’s security and independence in order to deal with the vile hostile acts of the United States, which violated our Republic’s legitimate right to peaceful satellite launches,” according to the KCNA report.

The comment refers UN Security Council Resolution 2087, passed after to Pyongyang's Dec. 12 rocket launch, heaping sanctions on previous sanctions against North Korea, further deepening the regime's isolation.

The resolution called on North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and any weapons and allow verification; to conduct no more launches using ballistic missile technology; and to conduct no more nuclear tests.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the latest test was a "clear and grave violation."

Later, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that North Korea threatened, citing an unidentified foreign ministry spokesman, to conduct more nuclear tests if the U.S. moves to penalize it for Tuesday's test.

At a disarmament forum in Geneva on Tuesday, a North Korean official said that his country would not change course in the current climate, Reuters reported.

"The U.S. and their followers are sadly mistaken if they miscalculate the DPRK would respect the entirely unreasonable resolutions against it. The DPRK will never bow to any resolutions," Jon Yong Ryong, first secretary of North Korea's mission in Geneva, told the Conference on Disarmament, referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

South Korea's government said in a statement that Tuesday's nuclear test, "poses a direct challenge to the whole international community as well as an unacceptable threat to the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia."

It said the government would stand firm in that it "will not tolerate a nuclear North Korea" and added that it will "also accelerate expanding its military capability, including deploying at an early stage its extended-range missiles, currently being developed, which cover all of North Korea."

Major hostilities in the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with armistice, not a peace treaty. Today, North Korean forces and South Korean forces bolstered by about 28,000 U.S. troops remain faced off at the 38th parallel, where the Korean Peninsula was divided.

Between 2003 and 2007, North Korean took party in several rounds of the so-called "Six Party Talks" with South Korea, China, the United States, Russia and Japan, in an attempt to reverse Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development in return for fuel and progress towards normalization of relations. The talks went on hold and then fell apart for good in April 2009 and Pyongyang expelled UN inspectors from the country.

China 'humiliated'
A key unanswered question is what Beijing will do after North Korea's latest move. The long-time Communist ally and neighbor, which has strategic reasons to continue supporting the regime in Pyongyang, nonetheless expressed its strong opposition to the test.

"China has been humiliated," according to Andrei Lankov, a veteran analyst of North Korea based in Seoul's Kookmin Unversity. That could prompt a change in Beijing's approach, he said.

"This time, China explicitly warned North Korea against conducting the test, but they were ignored," Landov added. "A Chinese government newspaper said two weeks ago that in the case of a nuclear test, China might significantly reduce its aid to North Korea."

China is a major source of aid to North Korea and key to keeping its decrepit economy afloat. China is also one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council with the power to veto sanctions.

The United States and other countries have urged China to put pressure on Pyongyang, but it remained to be seen how far Beijing would go to confront its old comrade.

"They are not happy about nuclear adventurism. At the same time though, a collapsing non-nuclear North Korea is far worse than a nuclear but stable North Korea," Lankov said.

North wants U.S. recognition
Professor Yan Xuetong, a top international security analyst at China's Tsinghua University, said "the key to the North Korean nuclear challenge is in the hands of the United States, not China."

"China is certainly opposed to North Korea's latest nuclear test and opposed to North Korea becoming a nuclear power, but the test was aimed at the Unite States with the aim of forcing the U.S. to normalize relations with North Korea, but if the U.S. doesn't want to play the  game of trade-off, then there is not much that China can do," he said.

Yan, who closely follows government policy thinking on the issue, argued that "the role of economic sanctions is limited," suggesting China will not stop economic assistance to North Korea because of the latest test.

"What China should do is to act as bridge between North Korea and the United States so that they will agree to a trade-off, with the U.S. granting recognition to the North Korean government in exchange for it giving up its nuclear program," he said.

"If the U.S. views North Korea's nuclear threat with the same seriousness as it views Iran's nuclear threat, then there will be hope for solving the North Korea's nuclear problem," he said.

NBC News staff writers Ian Johnston, Eric Baculinao, John Newland and Arata Yamamoto contributed to this report.

Related:

Analysis: China fears alienating nuclear-armed Kim

N. Korea propaganda video shows US city in flames 

Show of force: US, South Korea hold naval drills

This story was originally published on Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:11 PM EST

BEIJING -- Change in North Korea, and its potential impact on American interests in the Asia-Pacific, is likely to be on the agenda when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Chinese leaders next month on her region-wide tour.

Is the hermit kingdom, with its nuclear weapons program and a “military-first policy” that prioritizes its 1.2 million-strong army, capable of social reform?

Or is the latest staged-managed imagery from Pyongyang—of a Swiss-educated young leader displaying a stylish wife, giving thumbs up to pop music and promising that the belt-tightening days are over—a sign of a new beginning for the impoverished and isolated nation?

---

The buzz about North Korea’s tantalizing hints of change has gained currency with the recent visit to China of Jang Song Thaek, the powerful uncle of the new North Korean leader Kim Jung Un, followed by reports that Kim himself is seeking to visit China next month.

China vowed greater support and investment in North Korea’s languishing China-style special economic zones, and urged Pyongyang to let “market” principles guide its moribund economy.

But while signs are pointing to change in Pyongyang, North Korean propaganda was denouncing as “hallucination” any talk of reform, denying that the new leadership is breaking with the past.

Authoritarian dictatorship
As a neighbor and ally, China is sensitive to any shift in Pyongyang’s policy directions that could impact China’s interests.  While Beijing provides Pyongyang with massive aid to prevent regime collapse that could cause regional instability, China is opposed to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

“I think it’s not possible for Pyongyang to sacrifice its military-first and nuclear arms policies, and that in turn will limit all possibilities for reform,” observed Zhang Liangui, China’s top scholar on North Korea who graduated from Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang.

“I am not optimistic about reform because Kim Jun Un alone cannot decide, it will be decided by North Korea’s political system which prioritizes the army,” said Zhang, a professor of international strategic research at China’s central school for training communist party officials.

“There is low probability of significant change,” said Daniel Pinkston, Seoul-based senior analyst of the International Crisis Group.

North Korea’s system is “structurally set up as an authoritarian dictatorship…as long as the Kim family is in power it will be extraordinarily difficult to renounce the legacy of his father and grandfather,” Pinkston told NBC News, explaining his group’s latest report analyzing the barriers to reform in North Korea’s militarized society.

Preventing a Gadhafi-like fate
“As long as the Kim family regime is in power, they will not surrender nuclear weapons.  But I do not see why this is an obstacle for reforms,” argued Andrei Lankov, a Seoul-based Russian scholar on North Korea who also attended Kim Il Sung University.

“They will keep their nuclear devices, five or ten of them, for the deterrence purposes, just to make sure that they will not suffer the sorry state of Colonel [Moammar] Gadhaf i—while reforming the country if they consider that reform suit their interest,” he told NBC News.

Lankov noted, however, the “destabilizing” effects of reform. ”Sadly, the conservatives might be correct and I will not be surprised if the reforms will bring about a sudden collapse of the North Korean state,” he said, alluding to the examples of East Germany and Tunisia.

“It is still possible to take steps toward the market without giving up the nuclear program, though you would have to limit military spending,” according to Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at the Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.

But for Sneider, one issue is the challenge posed to Pyongyang’s legitimacy by South Korea. North Korea used to be more prosperous than the South due to pampering by China and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.  But now, the North’s economy is barely three percent of the South’s, with half the population. The majority of North Koreans suffer from food shortages, according to UN reports.

“In the South, there is a wonderful example of a highly successful Korean market economy—the North claims to be morally superior and a purer Korean state, unpolluted by Western capitalism.  If they go down the road of market reform, that undermines a central plank of North Korean ideology,” Sneider said.

“The path of reform will be chosen by North Korea but China will certainly provide help,” said Lu Chao, director of North Korea Studies at the Academy of Social Sciences in Liaoning province, which shares a long border with North Korea.

Limited risk
Lu, who frequently meets with North Korean officials and businessmen from across the border, detects Pyongyang’s new focus on the economy.

“Kim Jung Un is focused on improving the quality of life, this can be seen in his visits to parks and artistic performances, in contrast with his father who prioritized the military,” Lu told NBC News.

“Some reforms are going on in the country, especially in agriculture,” he added, noting that farming reforms will pose “limited risks” to the regime.

For the International Crisis Group’s Pinkston, US policy should remain “deterrence and containment while being observant”.  

“The US should monitor, bilaterally and multilaterally, the situation in North Korea, maintain a strong deterrence and containment posture, but be willing, when the opportunity presents itself,  to engage North Korea if it changes its policy directions,” Pinkston said.

Clinton is scheduled to visit China Sept 4-5, before becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit East Timor, which gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.

She will later visit the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vladivostok, eastern Russia.

NBC researchers Tianzhou Ye and Lorraine Liu contributed to this report. 

More world stories from NBC News:

• 'Superhuman' athletes burst onto world stage
• Red Cross halts most Pakistan aid in wake of beheading
• Unexploded WWII bomb disrupts Amsterdam airport
• Pakistani Christians live in fear after girl's blasphemy arrest
• 'A less polar pole': Arctic sea ice at record low
• Botched restoration turns Spanish church into tourist attraction

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

 

BEIJING –"We've decided to award the title of Marshal to Kim Jong Un, Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army," the Korean TV anchor said in a special newscast Wednesday.

While the announcement that Kim Jong Un had been formally tapped as the top commander of the Korean People’s Army was considered a foregone conclusion around the world, the move crosses the t’s and dots the i’s crucial to the young leader’s bid to cement his control over the reclusive nation.

Conferred on Tuesday, but announced Wednesday, the title officially consolidates Kim’s control of the major organs of power in North Korea.

---

Consolidating power
In April, Kim was tapped as head of the Worker’s Party of Korea and First Chairman of the National Defense Commission. Those appointments came in the run up to a grand military parade and failed rocket launch that commemorated the 100^th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the nation, and his grandfather, Kim Il Sung.

But the title of “Marshal” conveyed on Kim gives the leader previously known as “The Young General” the highest rank in North Korea’s armed forces and final say over the most powerful body in the country: the 1.2 million strong Korean People’s Army.

Kim’s elevation wasn’t without losers. In the days leading up to the announcement, Kim is said to have orchestrated the purging of top general, Ri Yong-ho, who was previously Vice-Marshal of the army.

North Korea military chief, ally of new leader, relieved of duty

A relative unknown officer, Hyon Yong-chol, was chosen to replace Ri, leading to speculation that the move was made so Kim could more easily tap military resources without having to work through the elder, respected Ri.

"I think North Korea's power elite group needed to control the military's reckless and provocative actions because Kim Jong Un can't implement any economic policies under such circumstances,” said Lee Seung-yeol, a senior research fellow at Ewha Institute of Unification Studies. ”It was seen as a necessary choice to sack Ri Yong-ho, who led the military's hardline policies for the last three years, to control the military."

Korean state press reported that Ri was being relieved due to illness, but according to Daniel Pinkston, North East Asia deputy project director for the International Crisis Group, sickness is not typically a motivator for North Korean generals to step down.

"An undefined health problem, I think that's very unlikely, it's not how they deal with it in North Korea,” Pinkston told a group of journalists in Seoul. “There are a number of officials, or cases of officials, who still stay in their positions despite very poor health or terminal illnesses, that's not how they deal with it."

Since taking over for his father, Kim Jong Il, following his death in December, the younger Kim, said to be in his twenties, has apparently been quietly working to consolidate his power in North Korea. The leadership in Pyongyang, older and once fiercely loyal to the elder Kim, have rallied around Kim Jong Un, banking on the stability provided by his hereditary succession. 

On the surface, Kim appears to be making a slight departure from the cold, rigid control his father wielded over the DPRK. Just half a year since his elevation to power, Kim has spoken publically far more than the elder Kim ever did.

Even the news of Kim’s promotion was preceded by an earlier statement that an “important announcement” was going to be made, a rarity during the previous Kim’s reign.  The pre-alert lead to concerns over what the announcement might entail and sent South Korea’s stock market down 1.5 percent, halting three previous days of gains in the market.

'Mystery woman' stirs talk of changing times in North Korea

In addition, recent pictures of Kim glad-handing with military officers, attending events with a mysterious young woman rumored to be his sister or wife  and even taking in a concert employing dancing Disney-like characters, have brought speculation that the young leader is quietly allowing some liberalization to occur.

Not so, said Pinkston.

"As far as people speculating about Yong-ho being sacked and this being a sign of moving in a direction of reform and liberalization, I don't see that being the case,” he said.

With this further consolidation of power at the cost of one of his father’s close military advisers, Kim is seemingly swinging the pendulum in the other direction, showing that just like his father, the young marshal plans to rule through his army. 

BEIJING – All 29 Chinese fishermen held for almost two weeks by a North Korean crew were released and returned home on Monday, ending a hostage crisis that had outraged many in China and strained relations between the normally close friends.

China's state-run Xinhua News quoted an official at the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang as saying that they had been informed that the three fishing vessels detained by the North Korean coast guard on May 8 were on their way back to China.

The sailors were in good health "with sufficient food and healthcare" after 13 days in North Korean waters, Xinhua quoted the official as saying.

---

The official's statement runs counter to reports by owners of two of the ships captured in the Yellow Sea who said that the crews had been given little to eat and had very little rest since the boats were taken.

The incident came as a surprise because China is North Korea's closest ally, and most important source of food aid and gasoline despite international sanctions meant to punish the country for its nuclear program and rocket launches.

Chinese netizens abuzz over reported boat hijackings by N. Korea

Questions shrouded the affair even as the sailors were set free.

Xinhua and other state media did not report whether a ransom had been paid, although it was earlier reported that the captors had demanded 900,000 yuan ($140,000) in exchange for the release of the vessels and their crew.

It also was not clear whether the North Koreans involved in the kidnapping and reported ransom negotiations were working on behalf of the North Korean government or alone.

Fishermen who operate in the waters where the boats were taken told the Chinese newspaper Global Times about previous incidents.

"The North Korean coast guards took almost everything, even pencils and clothes,” the newspaper quoted one fishermen as saying about a previous robbery. “They also pumped the fuel out of seized boats, leaving just enough for the journey home."

Even as it tried to cover the day’s news, the Global Times appeared to contradict its own reports.

While a news story reported that the latest kidnapping wasn’t the first incident involving North Korea’s coast guard, a Monday editorial in the same paper refuted the fisherman’s story.

"Currently there are rumors about misbehavior from North Koreans in the border areas between the two countries [and that] China does not seem to be taking a tough attitude toward them," the editorial stated. “Both should take effective measures to eliminate such rumors.”

Are China & North Korea happier than America?

But, right after news of this most recent incident broke in early May, Chinese officials ordered hundreds of fishing boats in the area to restrict their operations to 50 miles within China’s territorial waters. 

While the recent hijacking prompted an outraged response online and in China’s highly-controlled state media, on Monday journalists seemed to have reverted to a friendlier attitude, working overtime to dampen anger they had generated and fueled.

For example, the same Global Times editorial urged China to work on improving relations between China and North Korea.

"The case should be a turning point for China in its handling of border disputes between China and North Korea,” the editorial said optimistically. “China and North Korea have a solid geographic basis for their friendship [and] both attach strategic importance to this friendship.”

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Pakistan blocks Twitter -- but fails to stop tweets
• NATO summit prompts little buzz on streets of Kabul
• Olympic torchbearers race to cash in
• A random act of kindness lifts spirits in London
• Poll: 63 percent in US back action to stop Iran
• 800-year-old tree falls to illegal loggers
• Japan mayor: I wouldn't hire tattooed Depp, Gaga
• Library opened by Mark Twain falls victim to cuts

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

 

BEIJING – In what appears to be a rare public spat between longtime neighbors and allies, 29 Chinese sailors have been kidnapped in the Yellow Sea by North Koreans, according to Chinese media reports.

Three Chinese fishing ships were operating in waters between North Korea and China on May 8 when they were boarded, 29 crew members taken hostage and the vessels hijacked, the reports said late Wednesday. 

The vessels reportedly were then taken to North Korean waters where they have remained since. One fisherman was said to have escaped.  

---

One of the ships’ owners, Sun Caihui, said that the hijackers’ ship was a North Korean naval vessel and that some of the men were wearing uniforms of the Korean People’s Navy, according to a report on Netease, a popular Chinese web portal.  

 

How Sun was able to determine whether the hijackers’ ship was a North Korean military vessel, much less whether the kidnappers were working on behalf of the North Korean government or were pirates working independently, remains unclear.  

Immediately after the incident, the hijackers allegedly asked one of the Chinese captains to call Sun to tell him that the hijackers were demanding 1.2 million yuan ($190,000) in ransom for the three ships captured. Sun said he has not been in contact with his crew since that call, but new reports late Thursday suggested that the kidnappers are now seeking around 900,000 yuan ($140,000) for their release.

North Korea’s government has not made any public comment on the case. Likewise, China’s government would not publicly confirm any details about the reported incident. 

China is North Korea’s key international ally, with Beijing having been Pyongyang’s main supplier of food aid and oil despite strict international sanctions over the reclusive country’s nuclear ambitions and rocket launches. 

"China is maintaining close contact with North Korea through the relevant channels and we hope this problem will be appropriately solved as soon as possible," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily briefing. 

"We have also stated to North Korea that it should ensure the legitimate rights of Chinese ship personnel."

The owner of another ship involved, named Zhang Dechang, said that during a talk with his ship’s captain on May 9, he was assured that no direct threats had been made against the sailors themselves. However, in an article Thursday in the Chinese newspaper Global Times Zhang said he had received a call from the hijackers on Tuesday threatening to “dispose” of the ships and the fishermen if the ransom was not paid by May 17.

Conditions on the boats are said to be cramped and the fishermen reportedly have not been well looked after. Both Zhang and Sun said their ship captains have told him that they don’t have much to eat and that they’ve had little rest.

Sun said the incident has brought feelings of anger and helplessness. “Relatives of the sailors – parents, children, wives – came to us for their men, weeping,” he said, “We could do nothing.”  

Anger among Chinese 
The incident has raised the ire of China’s netizens, who have wondered why it has taken so long for news of the alleged hijacking to be released and why Beijing has reacted so gently on this matter. 

On China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo, the issue was the top trending topic Thursday. “Has North Korea forgotten how China aided North Korea in the Korean War?” wrote one user. “Why are our fishermen always being arrested by foreigners, our waters always occupied by other countries? Don’t bully us, OK?” 

Others Weibo users were more belligerent. “If they dare to execute hostages, we should immediately destroy them!” declared another. 

In general, there appears to be a growing public frustration in China over the government’s seeming desire to not react to the incidents aggressively, perhaps best summed up by one Weibo user who wrote: “I wish the Chinese government could be stronger and stop chanting slogans like ‘harmony’ and ‘peace.’” 

NBC News’ Horace Lu contributed to this report. 

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Inside Syria rebel stronghold: 'The city is on mute'
• Will $95-million cable car be ready for Olympics?
• What's behind China's crackdown on foreigners?
• NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin answers Syria questions
• Royal rumble: Spain's queen snubs UK queen
• Italian university to switch to English-only classes
• Germany's Pirate Party rides wave of popularity

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

BEIJING—Here's a little diversion for anyone needing a little break from sports this weekend (Superbowl, anyone?  Jeremy Lin, anyone?). 

---

It's a chirpy version of that 1980s A-ha standby, “Take On Me,” performed by…

Accordion players.

In North Korea.

The five musicians were filmed at the Kum Song School in the capital, Pyongyang, in December last year.

They were introduced to the A-ha song by visiting Norwegian artist Morten Traavik, who had been travelling to and from North Korea as part of efforts to bring musicians and artists from the isolated country to Norway for an arts and culture festival this month.

According to one report, the accordion players surprised Traavik with their improvised version of the Euro-pop song two days after he presented them with the CD.  He then filmed them playing the song and posted it on YouTube to promote the festival, which runs from February 8-12. 

BEIJING — The news that North Korea’s “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il had died made its way to the Chinese capital mid-Monday morning.  Very soon, police tape surrounded the North Korean embassy, where its national flag was lowered to half-staff.

State-run newspapers The China Daily and The Global Times posted the news on their websites -- the latter going with a special section dedicated to the eccentric leader of China’s tiny but troublesome northeastern neighbor. 

---

Featuring comments by users of Weibo  (the Chinese microblog) and a Kim family tree, the Global Times site was worthy of a Chinese state leader, reflecting the closeness of the two regimes enduring more than half a century.

The Chinese state-run television CCTV broke into regular programming, about twenty minutes before its daily noontime news broadcast, to run a special report on Kim’s death.  Its Pyongyang news team was the first to get reaction within the isolated state out to the world.  The nine-minute clip shows a variety of North Korean citizens crying, almost all unable to speak to the camera.

Despite running his country like a cult, impoverishing and starving his own people while building a nuclear arsenal, Kim was more often than not ridiculed for his appearance and his personality.  Twitter users posted memorable moments such as an Economist magazine cover with Kim with bouffant hair in tinted glasses:Greetings, Earthlings.

We, on the other hand, would like to remember the Dear Leader in action.  After all, the DPRK’s Korean Central News Agency said Kim died while travelling back from a “rural inspection tour.”  What better way to mark his passing away than with a look back at other inspection tours, thanks to this great Tumblr site.

Updated at 6:41 a.m. ET:

Like father, like son.

Within hours of news of the elder Kim’s death, the Tumblr page above spawned a junior: Kim Jong Un looking at things.