Though North Korea already is subject to strict sanctions, the United Nations has promised a resolution to further strengthen these measures.
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According to Norsar, a Norway-based group that monitors nuclear tests, this test took place deeper underground, so it would be harder to monitor radiation and thus determine the type of weapon tested. This act is profoundly destabilizing regional security and seriously undermining worldwide non-proliferation efforts.
Still, even some former Obama administration officials say the administration’s insistence that it would not talk to North Korea unless the North agreed the ultimate outcome was complete nuclear disarmament was a prescription for diplomatic failure. CTBTO experts are analyzing the event to establish more about its nature.
This technology could have contributed to the blast being moderately more powerful than Pyongyang’s last test in 2013. None of them have so far stopped North Korea from continuing its nuclear program.
To build its nuclear program, the North must explode new and more advanced devices so scientists can improve their designs and technology.
South Korea also said Thursday it will limit entry to a jointly run factory park in North Korea, the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.
But it went nowhere, and South Korean officials have warned that the North’s programme has hit what one called a “point of no return”, a phrase the Israelis once used, wrongly, about Iran. Proving that the blast was a hydrogen bomb would depend on the presence of the hydrogen isotope tritium, which would set it apart from a fission atomic bomb and which in turn would require the presence of lithium. And yet, even China has criticized it about this test. What influence does China have over North Korea?
If confirmed, this will be the fourth nuclear test carried out by the country since 2006.
North Korea under Kim Jong-un has made attempts to move away from total dependence on China. Sydney A Seiler, the State Department’s coordinator for eliminating the North Korean nuclear programme, put together a package of proposals to see if the North would consider resuming negotiations.
This weeks nuclear test followed reports of a failed North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test earlier this month.
In a press conference, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said an initial analysis by US intelligence agencies is “not consistent with North Korean claims of a successful hydrogen bomb test”.
Chuck Downs, an expert on North Korea’s negotiating strategy, said the announcement is an “ad portraying North Korea as the leader of the world’s anti-American forces …”
Outside the Hermit Kingdom, however, Pyongyang’s hydrogen bomb claims are being treated with skepticism.
A visitor looks at a display illustrating the damage a 1MT class nuclear weapon would cause if detonated in Seoul, at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.
“But North Korea is like that Glenn Close character from Fatal Attraction”.
North Korea also said it was capable of miniaturising the H-bomb, in theory allowing it to be placed on a missile and threatening the U.S. West Coast, South Korea and Japan.
How should the rest of the world respond?
However, North Korea has proven adept at circumventing global sanctions. Economic sanctions from Russian Federation and China would most likely be effective, though it is unclear whether they would be willing to engage.
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MONTAGNE: Well, thank you very much for joining us.
