Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a speech about his vision for foreign policy at the Mayflower Hotel April 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. | Getty Trump blames Hillary Clinton for North Korean nuke test Clinton, by contrast, issued a measured statement subtly distancing herself from President Obama and criticizing Trump without using his name.

Donald Trump's campaign is blaming Hillary Clinton for North Korea's latest provocation, a nuclear weapons test that is raising new doubts about President Barack Obama's handling of the rogue Asian regime.

The test, which came on the 68th anniversary of North Korea's founding, “is yet one more example of Hillary Clinton's catastrophic failures as secretary of state," Trump communications aide Jason Miller said in a statement. "Clinton promised to work to end North Korea’s nuclear program as secretary of state, yet the program has only grown in strength and sophistication."


Clinton called the test "outrageous and unacceptable" in a statement of her own, describing North Korea's "determination to develop a deliverable nuclear weapon" as a "direct threat to the United States."

And while she praised Obama's "call to both strengthen the sanctions passed earlier this year with the United Nations and to impose additional sanctions," she also hinted at some distance between them, urging the U.S. to "make sure" China will "meaningfully increase pressure on North Korea."

Clinton then took the opportunity to hit Trump right back, without mentioning him by name.

"This is another reminder that America must elect a president who can confront the threats we face with steadiness and strength," she said. "We need a commander in chief committed to a bipartisan foreign policy, who can bring together top experts with deep experience to solve the toughest challenges."

"And we need a president committed to reducing — not increasing — the number of nuclear weapons and nuclear states in the world," she added in a likely reference to Trump's past suggestion that Japan should be encouraged to develop its own nuclear weapons.

Obama denounced North Korea earlier on Friday, condemning the nuclear test "in the strongest possible terms as a grave threat to regional security and to international peace and stability" and vowing to press for new sanctions.

The test, North Korea's fifth and the fourth on Obama's watch, threatens to raise security tensions in Asia just as the president returns from summit meetings in China and Laos. And it promises to give Trump another political cudgel with which to hit Obama and Clinton, who has largely backed the president's existing policy of "strategic patience."

News of the test broke overnight in Washington, when the U.S. Geological Survey reported that a 5.3-magnitude seismic event had occurred at 9 a.m. local time in North Korea on Friday near a nuclear test site. North Korea claimed the test had demonstrated its ability to place a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile — a capability that would allow the reclusive North Korean regime to threaten its neighbors in the region and possibly beyond.

"North Korea stands out as the only country to have tested nuclear weapons this century," Obama said in a statement. "Today's test, North Korea's second this year, follows an unprecedented campaign of ballistic missile launches, which North Korea claims are intended to serve as delivery vehicles for nuclear weapons targeting the United States and our allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan. As Commander in Chief, I have a responsibility to safeguard the American people and ensure that the United States is leading the international community in responding to this threat and North Korea's other provocations with commensurate resolve and condemnation."

Obama also reiterated the long-standing U.S. refusal to recognize North Korea as a nuclear state and called the test "a flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council Resolutions."

The president said he had agreed jointly with the leaders of South Korea and Japan to intensify the implementation of existing U.N. sanctions and press for new ones "to demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences to its unlawful and dangerous actions."

Obama also expressed his "unshakable commitment" to U.S. allies in the region and promised to deploy a missile defense system to South Korea, a move China adamantly opposes.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking in Oslo, Norway, after a conversation with his South Korean counterpart, said that North Korea’s test constituted a “direct challenge to the entire international community” and urged the U.N. Security Council to “hold North Korea accountable for this latest act and heighten the pressure on North Korea, especially thorough tightening of sanctions commensurate with the gravity of this act.”

Top Asian powers universally criticized North Korea's move. South Korean President Park Geun-hye called it "maniacal recklessness" and China's Foreign Ministry expressed Beijing's "firm opposition" to the test and urged Pyongyang to "live up to its commitment of denuclearization, abide by relevant Security Council resolutions and refrain from any action that may deteriorate the situation." But China did not tip its hand on whether it would support further measures to punish North Korea.

Congressional Republicans cited the test as an example of what they say are Obama's failures on foreign policies, pointing to the administration's apparent reluctance to go after Chinese banks and companies with ties to North Korea.

“This destabilizing activity is also a consequence of the administration’s failed policy of strategic patience and its hollow pivot to Asia," House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said in a statement. "The president should immediately make full use of the sanctions authorities Congress gave him earlier this year, and he should join me in urging China, as Pyongyang’s chief sponsor, to fully enforce the international sanctions on the Kim regime."

Experts have long been skeptical of North Korea’s claims about its nuclear capabilities, but Friday’s test is bound to raise fresh concerns about the regime’s ability to threaten the United States.

Kelsey Davenport, director for non-proliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, told The Guardian : “It is likely now that North Korea could at this point put a nuclear warhead on a short- or medium-range missile which could reach South Korea, Japan and U.S. military installations in the region.” James Acton, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, described the pace of North Korea’s tests as “deeply concerning” and said that even if Pyongyang was exaggerating its current capacity, “it will develop nuclear-armed missiles capable of reaching the region and eventually the United States.”

Trump has often criticized Obama's handling of North Korea, but has offered few specific ideas of his own for bringing Pyongyang to heel.

On Tuesday, the Republican nominee described North Korea as a "potential catastrophe" and a "big problem." But he said it was China's problem to solve.

"They're very belligerent. They have no respect for our country, none whatsoever. And we have a situation that's a potential catastrophe. We have somebody that truly does have nuclear and nuclear capability. The carrier maybe is not there yet, but it soon will be," Trump said at a campaign event in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"We have a man who is, I mean, he's took over — 25 years old, I guess, or around that — and now it looks like he's getting more and more hostile," he said of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "And what I would do very simply is say, 'China, this is your baby. This is your problem. You solve the problem.' China can solve that problem."

Trump has described Kim as a "total nutjob" and a "madman," but he has also marveled at the North Korean autocrat's "amazing" ability to hold on to power.

"If you look at North Korea — this guy, he’s like a maniac, OK?" Trump said in January. "And you have to give him credit. How many young guys — he was like 26 or 25 when his father died — take over these tough generals, and all of a sudden — you know, it’s pretty amazing when you think of it. How does he do that? Even though it is a culture and it’s a cultural thing, he goes in, he takes over, and he’s the boss. It’s incredible. He wiped out the uncle. He wiped out this one, that one. I mean, this guy doesn’t play games. And we can’t play games with him. Because he really does have missiles. And he really does have nukes."

In June, Trump said he would be willing to negotiate with Kim and even host him in the United States.

"What the hell is wrong with speaking?" Trump said at a campaign rally in Georgia. "I wouldn't go there, that I can tell you. If he came here, I'd accept him. But I wouldn't give him a state dinner like we do for China and all these other people that rip us off."