At a doorstop in Sydney, Australia, the deputy Labor leader, Tanya Plibersek, has called conflict on the Korean peninsula “the greatest threat to peace and stability in our region”.

“It is absolutely vital that we continue to see pressure from the international community to support peace and de-escalation of conflict on the Korean peninsula. Right across our region governments have been watching North Korea’s actions with a great deal of concern and trepidation.”

Asked about North Korea’s claim it is capable of fitting a hydrogen bomb to an intercontinental ballistic missile, Plibersek said it was “very difficult to know how much of the North Korean regime’s propaganda is true” and said that reports differed on the likelihood of that claim being true.

“What we know for certain is that the North Korean regime is behaving irresponsibly, aggressively and in a way that threatens peace and security in our region ... [and] that the people most likely to influence with the North Korean regime is China and we continue to urge China to do all it can to urge the North Korean regime to stand down.”

For those just joining us, it appears North Korea has just launched its biggest nuclear test to date at a test site in the north-east of the country. The suspected test comes hours after leader Kim Jong-un said his country had developed an advanced hydrogen bomb. The Guardian has just posted this backgrounder on how we got to this point.

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