WASHINGTON, May 25 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday he strongly condemns North Korea's announcement that it had carried out a successful nuclear test.
"North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose a grave threat to the peace and security of the world, and I strongly condemn their reckless action," Obama said at the White House in Washington.
North Korea's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon, as well as its tests of ballistic missiles, "endanger the people of Northeast Asia, they are a blatant violation of international law and they contradict North Korea's own prior commitments," the U.S. president said.
Obama said Washington and the international community "must take action in response" and accused Pyongyang of not following through on commitments it has made to abandon its nuclear program.
"Russia and China, as well as our traditional allies of South Korea and Japan, have all come to the same conclusion: North Korea will not find security and respect through threats and illegal weapons," he said.
