North Korea announced Tuesday night that it had set off a hydrogen-bomb explosion, which would represent a significant advancement of its nuclear arsenal.
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Lee Cheol-woo of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee said the blast generated by the third nuclear test produce an estimated yield of 7.9 kilotons – 1 kiloton equals 1,000 tons of dynamite – but the blast this time was equivalent to just six kilotons.
South Korea says it will retaliate for a North Korean nuclear test by resuming cross-border propaganda broadcasts that Pyongyang considers an act of war.
Obama reaffirmed the USA commitment to Japan’s security, and the two leaders “agreed to work together to forge a united and strong global response to North Korea’s latest reckless behavior”, the White House said in a statement.
Last month Kim suggested Pyongyang had already developed such a device.
“The seismic data that’s been received indicates that the explosion is probably significantly below what one would expect from an H-bomb test”, said Australian nuclear policy and arms control specialist Crispin Rovere. As a small country, we have suffered in the past, but now we have got a hydrogen bomb, there is nothing greater than this.
Pyongyang is thought to have a handful of crude nuclear weapons.
North Korean media report only official news, and any other version of events can’t be spoken about openly.
In response to the claims, the UN Security Council agreed on Wednesday to also implement new measures to punish North Korea for its provocation.
The censure and sanctions threats had a familiar ring, given similar outrage that greeted the North’s previous tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, and some voices stressed the need to find a strategy that combined coercion with negotiation. Their failure to prevent a fourth detonation will put the Security Council under intense pressure to take more drastic action this time around.
The final response of China, North Korea’s economic and diplomatic patron, will be key.
While Beijing has restrained US-led allies from stronger action against Pyongyang in the past, it has shown increasing frustration with its refusal to suspend testing.
Although officials and experts were highly sceptical of the claim it was a sophisticated H-bomb, the latest test provided unnerving proof – if proof were still needed – of North Korea’s commitment to developing an advanced nuclear weapons capability.
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“There is nothing that has occurred in the last 24 hours that has caused the United States government to change our assessment of North Korea’s technical and military capabilities”.
