Barack Obama warns DPRK

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama, warning of "serious consequences", called the leaders of South Korea and Japan for consultations, a White House spokesman said on Friday, after Pyongyang said it conducted its fifth nuclear test.

"The president indicated he would continue to consult our allies and partners in the days ahead to ensure provocative actions from North Korea are met with serious consequences," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. North Korea declared it had conducted a "successful" fifth nuclear test, which South Korea described as the largest explosion of its kind by Pyongyang. Obama was briefed on the situation as he flew home from a trip to Asia, Earnest said. He said Obama, who arrived in Washington shortly after midnight on Thursday, also consulted with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in separate phone calls from the presidential aircraft.