In front of a backdrop of Mt Paektu, the dormant volcano on the Chinese border that is the fount of Korean nationhood, she trembled with excitement, smiling broadly as she pronounced the test’s “perfect success”.

It “clearly proved” that the North’s nuclear weapons had a “highly precise basis”, she said, wearing a pink and black traditional dress, known as hanbok in the South and choson chogori in the North, adorned with a badge of Kim Il-sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-il.

The broadcaster carried images of leader Kim Jong-un, the third generation of the family to rule the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as the country is officially known, sitting at a circular table with a general and three other officials.

It also showed his handwritten order for the test to be carried out at noon on September 3.

The test “marked a very significant occasion in attaining the final goal of completing the state nuclear force”, Ri said.