North Korea has announced that it successfully carried out another underground nuclear test on Monday. The nuclear explosion came on the heels of the North's April 5 launching of a long-range rocket, which drew condemnation from the United Nations Security Council in the form of a presidential statement.
Monday's test defied UNSC resolution 1718 — issued after North Korea conducted its first nuclear explosion on Oct. 9, 2006 — which demanded that the North refrain from conducting additional nuclear tests. No doubt the act will raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula; the international community must unite and act to prevent North Korea from taking further provocative actions.
On Jan. 17, the North Korean armed forces said that the country would adopt an "all-out confrontational posture" toward South Korea. After the UNSC condemned North Korea's April 5 rocket launch and called for sanctions, Pyongyang threatened to retaliate by testing an intercontinental ballistic missile and another nuclear device.