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 North Korea's fourth nuclear test on Wednesday angered both the
United States and China, which was not given prior notice, although
the U.S. government and weapons experts doubt the North's claim that
the device it set off was a hydrogen bomb.
In retaliation for the test, South Korea on Friday unleashed a
ear-splitting propaganda barrage. The last time South Korea deployed
the loudspeakers, in August 2015, it triggered an exchange of
artillery fire.
"Jealous of the successful test of our first H-bomb, the U.S. and
its followers are driving the situation to the brink of war, by
saying they have resumed psychological broadcasts and brought in
strategic bombers," Kim Ki Nam, head of the ruling Workers' Party
propaganda department, said at Friday's rally.
State media published images of the rally which appeared to show
thousands of people gathered in central Pyongyang, holding signs
glorifying leader Kim Jong Un, whose birthday was also on Friday.
 Kim Ki Nam's comments, which are in line with routine propaganda
rhetoric, were the North's first official response to the South's
broadcasts, which it considers insulting.
The broadcasts, in rolling bursts from walls of loudspeakers at 11
sites along the heavily militarized border, blared criticism of the
North's regime and "K-pop" music. North Korea later responded with
its own broadcasts.
A South Korean military official said Seoul and Washington had
discussed the deployment of U.S. strategic weapons on the Korean
peninsula after the test, but declined to give details. Media said
these could include B-2 and B-52 bombers, and a nuclear-powered
submarine. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he
had told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China's approach to
North Korea had not succeeded.
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Wang also held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Yun
Byung-se. Yun pushed Wang to "sternly punish" North Korea over the
test, the South Korean foreign ministry said.
China is North Korea's main economic and diplomatic backer, although
relations between them have cooled in recent years.
South Korea's nuclear safety agency said it had found a minuscule
amount of xenon gas in a sample from off the country's east coast
but needed more analysis and samples to tell if the trace came from
a nuclear test.
South Korea said TV footage released by the North on Friday of what
appeared to be a submarine launch of a ballistic missile was
probably manipulated.
The deployment of such a weapon is some years away, said a military
official who asked not to be identified.
The images showed Kim Jong Un on the deck of a vessel watching a
missile emerge from the water in a short and heavily edited clip.
(Additional reporting by Hooyeon Kim, Hyunyoung Yi and Jack Kim;
Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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