A new round of tensions is rapidly building up on the Korean Peninsula after the fourth nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Jan 6. Such an undesirable trend could revive the old vicious circle of provocation and retaliation, driving efforts to denuclearize the peninsula into a dead end again.

Two days after Pyongyang claimed it had successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb, its fourth nuclear test in a decade, the Republic of Korea resumed propaganda broadcasts in the border areas. ROK sources said on Monday the DPRK had expanded its own propaganda broadcasts in response.

On Sunday, A US B-52 bomber conducted a low-level flight in the vicinity of Osan, 40 kilometers south of Seoul, in response to Pyongyang's "recent provocative action," the Combined Forces Command said in a statement.