North Korea claims it conducted first H-bomb test

North Korea claimed on Wednesday that it had carried out its first ever test of a hydrogen nuclear bomb, provoking an immediate condemnation from all of its neighbours and from further abroad, including the UK, US and Japan.

The country's KCNA website made the claim hours after various agencies reported a large seismic event near one of the regime's known nuclear test sites, at Punggye-ri.

Nonetheless, South Korean intelligence sources reportedly cautioned that Pyongyang's claim that it had attained the so-called H-bomb had yet to be verified.

According to the statement from KCNA, the weapon was necessary to protect the country from the "ever-growing nuclear threat and blackmail by the U.S.-led hostile forces."

Wednesday's nuclear test was North Korea's first since 2013.

Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, quickly issued a condemnation of the nuclear test, describing it as a threat to his country's security.

In parallel, South Korean president Park Geun-hye said he would seek additional sanctions against the hermit Kingdom in response.

Via the state news agency Xinhua, China said the move by Pyongyang went against the goal of de-nuclearisation, adding that any move that disrupted the stability of Northeast Asia was "undesirable and unwise."