North Korea has acknowledged that it conducted a third nuclear test this morning (local time), announcing via Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA), "On February 12th, Juche 102(2013), we successfully conducted a third underground nuclear test in the northern underground nuclear test site."

The article blamed the U.S. for forcing North Korea’s hand, saying, “This nuclear test was conducted as part of measures to safeguard the country’s security and independence in order to deal with the vile hostile acts of the United States, which violated our Republic’s legitimate right to peaceful satellite launches.”

"In contrast with the past, we used a miniaturized and lightweight device for this test, although the explosive power was huge, so as to safely and perfectly conduct it at a high-level without negatively affecting the surrounding natural environment in any way," it went on to claim.

The test was conducted at 11:58AM at the North Korean test site in Punggye-ri, North Hamkyung Province, creating an artificial seismic event measuring 4.9 on the Richter Scale.