House poised to toughen sanctions on North Korea

North Korea will face grave consequences for exaggerating their success with a Hydrogen bomb.

(Image credit: JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 7 January 2016

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that the House will soon vote on toughening sanctions on North Korea after the notoriously secluded nation claimed this week that it had detonated a hydrogen bomb. Ryan's announcement comes as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that there is "strong, bipartisan report in Congress" for upping sanctions, Reuters reports.

"While the initial analysis is that North Korea has overstated the nature of the test," Pelosi said, "these reckless actions threaten the security of the region and the world." She added that talks of tougher sanctions did not just materialize after North Korea's actions Monday, but had been "in the works for awhile." "This irresponsible act by North Korea violates long-standing U.N. Security Council resolutions on nuclear weapons activities," Pelosi said.