President Barack Obama spoke on Thursday with the leaders of the two main USA allies in Asia – and North Korean neighbours – South Korea and Japan.
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The test was a “grave violation” of an August agreement by the two Koreas to ease tension and improve ties, a South Korean national security official, Cho Tae-yong, said in a statement. The broadcasts are aimed at North Korean soldiers deployed on the border.
The broadcasts, which also blare out weather forecasts, snippets of news and critiques of the North Korean regime, revives psychological warfare tactics that date back to the 1950-53 Korean War.
The United States called on China yesterday to end “business as usual” with its ally North Korea after Pyongyang defied world powers by announcing it had tested a hydrogen bomb. The government will allow only South Korean businessmen and workers directly involved in the operation of the factories to cross the Korean border, according to the official.
Although there is scepticism that North Korea carried out the H-bomb test it claims, its actions have been condemned by the global community.
Some believe North Korea might have detonated a boosted fission bomb, a weapon considered halfway between an atomic bomb and an H-bomb.
But U.S. officials have cast doubt on the claim the exploded device was a hydrogen bomb. South Korea responded to North Ko…
Jeffrey Park, a Yale University seismologist, said: “Seismic signals from the January 2016 detonation at the North Korean nuclear facility bear an uncanny resemblance to the signals recorded for the February 12, 2013 one”.
The yield from Wednesday’s explosion was initially estimated at six kilotons, whereas a two-stage H-bomb would be expected to release 1,000 times more energy.
The legislation was passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last February but it was stalled until this week’s underground nuclear bomb test.
Hydrogen bombs use a two-step process of fission and fusion that releases substantially more energy than an atomic bomb.
“And I think we should also arm ourselves with nuclear weapons”.
The United Nations has already promised to tighten sanctions on Pyongyang. Nuclear-tipped missiles could then be used as deterrents and diplomatic bargaining chips – especially against the USA, which Pyongyang has long pushed to withdraw its troops from the region and to sign a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War.
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Leader of the Democratic minority, Nancy Pelosi of California, promised Thursday there will be strong bipartisan support for the legislation tabled by the top Republican and Democrat lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would target access to hard currency and other goods and step up inspections of North Korean cargo.
