North Korea nuclear test condemned by UN, US, China and South Korea North Korea conducted a nuclear test after seismic activity measuring 4.9 magnitude was registered by the U.S. Geological Survey. Courtesy: CNN THE UN Security Council has started emergency talks on North Korea's nuclear test with world powers calling for swift action against Pyongyang. The 15-nation council, which includes Australia, passed a resolution last month threatening "significant action" against North Korea in the event of a new nuclear test or missile launch. The meeting was held amid near universal condemnation of the blast. Even China, the North's closest ally, summoned the North Korean ambassador in Beijing to protest. "We certainly hope that the council will be able to send a clear message of strong condemnation," Philip Parham, Britain's deputy UN ambassador, told reporters as he entered the closed meeting at the UN headquarters. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard earlier hit out at North Korea's "dangerous nuclear ambitions" and said the test violated the UN's Security Council resolutions. "As a Security Council member, Australia will work for the strongest possible response to North Korea's continuing defiance of the will of international community," Ms Gillard said. North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and missiles and its proliferation of sensitive technologies threaten international peace and security. The PM, who last year attended a nuclear security summit in South Korea with US President Barack Obama, has previously called on China to put pressure on North Korea to stop nuclear testing. Frustrated with its provocative ally, China has expressed its "firm opposition" to North Korea's latest nuclear test and has called for new denuclearisation talks. But although a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry reflects that frustration, it also shows a reluctance to impose more severe measures that could destabilize the North's hardline regime. "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, heedless of widespread international opposition, has again carried out a nuclear test, to which the Chinese government expresses its firm opposition," the statement says. It says China maintains its support of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, opposition to nuclear proliferation, and support for the maintenance of stability on the peninsula. It calls on North Korea to abide by its denuclearisation pledge, and not to "take additional actions that could cause the situation to further deteriorate." A satellite file photo taken on October 16, 2006 shows North Korea's suspected nuclear test site in P'unggye-yok Kilju county. Picture: Korea Aerospece Research Institute/AFP The statement did not point to any specific actions Beijing would take in response to the nuclear test, the North's third. But it called on all sides to "respond calmly" and said issues should be resolved within the framework of long-stalled denuclearisation talks involving North Korea, China, the US, South Korea, Japan and Russia. China is the North's biggest source of aid and diplomatic support, but it issued an unusually strong reaction to Pyongyang's December rocket launch by agreeing to tightened United Nations sanctions on the country. The latest statement, however, was almost word-for-word identical to China's responses to previous North Korean nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. China had repeatedly called on the North not to conduct a test, and Pyongyang's decision to proceed anyway will likely strengthen Beijing's arguments that it has little power to influence its neighbor and that harsh actions against the regime will only have a negative effect. Although Beijing hasn't proposed any concrete plans to punish the North, disgust with Pyongyang's defiance and lack of gratitude is growing in China. Tuesday was a public holiday in China, but the nuclear test was widely criticised on the country's popular Twitter-like Weibo microblogging service, with users calling it inhuman and anti-social and urging the government to reconsider its assistance to the regime. Many found the test especially offensive because it took place less than 100km from the Chinese border and came on the third day of the Lunar New Year, when most work stops for family gatherings. North Korean soldiers stand guard along the Yalu River at the North Korean town of Sinuiju after the country confirmed it had "successfully" carried out an underground nuclear test. Picture: Mark Ralston/AFP Worldwide condemnation THE UN, the US and South Korea have led the chorus of condemnation of North Korea over the underground test. Tuesday's explosion could take North Korea a big step closer to its goal of building a nuclear warhead small enough to be mounted on a long-range missile that could threaten the United States. Official state media said the test was conducted in a safe manner and is aimed at coping with "outrageous" US hostility that "violently" undermines the North's peaceful, sovereign rights to launch satellites. The North said it used a "lighter, miniaturised atomic bomb" that had more explosive force than past tests. "The high-level nuclear test, unlike in the past, had more explosive power and involved a miniaturised and lighter atomic bomb and was staged safely and perfectly," the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. Picture: USGS The United States Geological Survey said that it had detected a 4.9-magnitude earthquake in North Korea. South Korea moved quickly to condemn the test. "This is an unacceptable threat to the security of the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia and a challenge to the whole international community," presidential national security adviser Chun Young-Woo told reporters. The North will face grave responsibility for such provocations. UN leader Ban Ki-moon condemned the test as a "deeply destabilising" provocation. "It is a clear and grave violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions," Ban said of the blast, in comments given through his spokesman Martin Nesirky. North Korean soldiers stand guard along the Yalu River at the North Korean town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese city of Dandong. It is deplorable that Pyongyang defied the strong and unequivocal call from the international community to refrain from any further provocative measures. US President Barack Obama said in a statement it was a "highly provocative act that ... undermines regional stability (and) violates North Korea's obligations under numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions." "The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and steadfast in our defense commitments to allies in the region," Obama said. These provocations do not make North Korea more secure. British Foreign Secretary William Hague labelled the test a "violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions." North Korea's development of its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities poses a threat to international and regional security. Its repeated provocations only serve to increase regional tension, and hinder the prospects for lasting peace on the Korean peninsula," he said. South Korean passengers at the Seoul train station watch TV news reporting North Korea's apparent nuclear test. Picture: Kim Jae-Hwan/AFP The nuclear test is North Korea's first since leader Kim Jong-Un took power in December 2011 following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, and marks a bold statement for the young leader as he unveils his domestic and foreign policy for a country long estranged from the West. Experts say regular tests are needed to perfect North Korea's goal of building nuclear warheads small enough to be placed on long-range missiles. This atomic test - North Korea's third since 2006 - is expected to take Pyongyang closer to possessing nuclear-tipped missiles designed to strike the US. South Korea's Defence Ministry estimated the yield of the weapon to be 6-7 kilotons, Yonhap News Agency reported. The UN Security Council was to meet on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) following a request from Seoul. President Lee Myung Bak ordered a meeting of South Korea's security council in response to the test. Picture: GeoEye Satellite Image/AFP Japan was also expecting a stern response from the Security Council, chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said. The United States told Japan on Monday that Pyongyang would conduct a nuclear test in the near term, he added. North Korea tested atomic weapons in 2006 and 2009. A third test had been expected. The secretive state in January said that it planned a further atomic and rocket tests in protest at expanded United Nations sanctions. It did not specify when any tests would take place. The UN sanctions were imposed following the test launch of a rocket by the North in December. Nuclear test triggers earthquake North Korean soldiers patrol along the Yalu River after the country conducted its third nuclear test, triggering global condemnation. The US Geological Survey as well as earthquake monitoring stations in South Korea detected an earthquake just north of a site where North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in 2009, according to the government-funded Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. A Chinese paramilitary guard stands on duty outside the North Korean embassy in Beijing after North Korea's apparent nuclear test. Picture: Ed Jones/AFP North Korea's powerful politburo had vowed to continue firing "powerful long-range rockets." Once the test has been properly analysed, the even more problematic question arises of how the international community should respond to a country that appears immune to coercion.