Mr Obama said the test was a "highly provocative act", and called for "swift" and "credible" international action in response.

BBC: North Korea carries out biggest nuclear test

He then took his energetic, polemical and provocative act to the theater.

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All three are accused of disorderly behaviour and assault on police, while one of the men is also charged with a provocative act.

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Thomas Schieffer, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, called the launches "a provocative act, " and the White House said Pyongyang had further alienated itself from the world community.

NPR: North Korea's Neighbors Weigh Response to Tests

With new leaders in South Korea, Japan and China, North Korea's nuclear test also fits another longtime pattern of a undertaking a provocative act early in the tenure of other political leaders, then following it with steps to smooth relations in hopes of persuading the others to provide financial aid and other assistance.

WSJ: North Korea Tests Nuclear Device

He said the Law Commission produced a "provocative but very interesting" review five years ago, but the Labour government failed to act on it.

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