Al-Reuters
'North Korea says conducted nuclear test underground'
By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Monday it had safely and successfully carried out an underground nuclear test in a gesture of defiance as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in South Korea.
"The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent," North Korea's Korean Central News Agency said.
"It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA (Korean People's Army) and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability."
The report said there was no leak or danger from the test.
The U.N. Security Council last Friday urged North Korea not to carry out a test, warning Pyongyang of unspecified consequences if it did.
The dollar rose to a seven-month high against the yen after the reports but analysts did not expect long-term fallout unless the situation deteriorated further.
"The economy of North Korea is virtually closed from the rest of the world and its regional impact won't be very significant unless there was a major military confrontation," said Wang Qing, an economist at Bank of America in Hong Kong.
South Korea's presidential Blue House said a tremor of magnitude 3.58 to 3.7 had been detected in North Korea at 0135 GMT on Monday.