The US has flown a powerful B-52 bomber over South Korea in a show of force days after North Korea's fourth nuclear test

"US Flies Bomber Over South Korea"

The US displays its support for Seoul as a Cold War-style standoff over North Korea's latest nuclear test deepens.

The US has flown a powerful B-52 bomber over South Korea in a show of force days after North Korea's fourth nuclear test.

The bomber, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, joined South Korean F-15 and US F-16 fighters in a "demonstration of the ironclad US commitment" to its ally.

The US may also consider deploying an aircraft carrier to the Korean peninsula next month as a warning message to the North, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr, Commander of US Pacific Command, said in a statement. "North Korea's nuclear test is a blatant violation of its international obligations."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un called the widely-disputed hydrogen bomb test "a self-defensive step" meant to protect the region "from the danger of nuclear war caused by the US-led imperialists", according to state-run Korean Central News Agency.

"South Korea Blasts Loud Propaganda"

"It is the legitimate right of a sovereign state and a fair action that nobody can criticise," Mr Kim was reported as saying.

Tensions between the North and South, which have defined their relationship over the past seven decades, have settled into a kind of Cold War-era standoff once again.

Since Friday, South Korea has been blasting propaganda from huge speakers along the border - which the North has historically viewed as tantamount to an act of war. 

 
"North Koreans Praise Nuclear Blast"

Yonhap said Seoul had deployed missiles, artillery and other weapons systems near the border to deal with any possible North Korean provocation.

The news agency also said North Korea had started its own broadcasts likely meant to keep its soldiers from hearing the South Korean messages.

Diplomats at a UN Security Council emergency session pledged to pursue new sanctions against Pyongyang but it may take weeks or longer to confirm or refute the North's claim that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.

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Credit: Sky News