Hiroshima resets 'peace clock' after North Korean nuke test

A counter on a "peace clock" monument at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum that shows the number of days since the last nuclear test was reset on Tuesday, a day after North Korea's conducted its second nuclear test.

In the 12th reset since the clock's debut in August 2001, the digital number was changed to one from 960, which denotes the number of days since the last test -- also by Pyongyang -- took place in October 2006.

The 960 days had been the longest period of time free from nuclear tests since the clock was established by a peace group in an attempt to eradicate the practice, Kyodo news agency reported.

The monument was produced and donated to the museum by the group on the 56th anniversary of the August 6, 1945, US atomic bombing of the western Japanese city.

The 3.1-metre-tall monument also displays another digital number showing the days since the Hiroshima bombing, counting 23,304 as of Tuesday, beneath an analog clock for the current time.

Japan, well within firing range of North Korea, has led UN efforts to punish North Korea for its nuclear ambitions and has imposed a series of bilateral sanctions, including export and port call bans.