North Korea`s nuclear test act of `self-destruction`: South Korean President Park Geun-Hye

Seoul: South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Friday condemned North Korea`s latest nuclear test as an act of "self-destruction" that will further deepen its isolation in the international community.

The impoverished but nuclear-armed North staged its fifth nuclear test Friday morning, she said in a statement, describing it as a "grave challenge" to the international community.

"With the nuclear test, Kim Jong-Un`s regime will only earn more sanctions and isolation... and such provocation will further accelerate its path to self-destruction," she said, referring to the North`s young ruler.

The latest nuclear test -- described as the North`s most powerful to date by Seoul`s military -- proves Kim`s "manic recklessness" and his obsession with building a nuclear arsenal despite global criticism, she added.