North Korea announces it conducted nuclear test North Korea says it has successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test, which if confirmed, will be a first for the reclusive regime and a significant advancement for its military ambitions. A hydrogen bomb is more powerful than plutonium weapons, which is what North Korea used in its three previous underground nuclear tests. "If there's no invasion on our sovereignty we will not use nuclear weapon," the North Korean state news agency said. "This H-bomb test brings us to a higher level of nuclear power." A senior U.S. administration told CNN it could take days to obtain the scientific data to determine whether this was a successful test. The South Korean defense ministry said it too could not immediately confirm the test's success, but the country's foreign ministry hastily convened an emergency meeting. Officials in Japan were also holding discussions. The test took place at 10 a.m. local time, the regime said in a televised statement. The seismic event, which measured the event at a magnitude of 5.1, occurred 19 kilometers (12 miles) east-northeast of Sungjibaegam, the United States Geological Survey said. In the past, North Korea has tested fission weapons, which break large atoms like plutonium, into smaller atoms, creating considerable energy. Fusion weapons, such as hydrogen bombs, use fusion to combine small atoms -- such as hydrogen -- to create much larger amounts of energy. Nuclear weapons based on fission typically have a yield of around 10 kilotons, while nuclear weapons employing fusion can have a yield measured in megatons. A hydrogen bomb is hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb that devastated Hiroshima in 1945. The North Koreans have signaled for some time the test was a possibility, said Mike Chinoy, with the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California. READ MORE: How North Korea's nuclear program went from threats to reality "Kim Jong Un made public statement a few weeks ago saying that (the country was) developing a hydrogen bomb." But, said Bruce Bennett, North Korea's claims ought to be taken with a grain of salt. Bennett is a senior defense analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Rand Corp. "North Korea appears to have had a difficult time mastering even the basics of a fission weapon," he said. "This suggests that unless North Korea has had help from outside experts, it is unlikely that it has really achieved a hydrogen/fusion bomb since its last nuclear test, just short of three years ago." more...
Experts sceptical over North Korean H-bomb claim SEOUL: Nuclear experts cast doubt Wednesday on North Korea's claimed first successful test of a miniaturised hydrogen bomb, saying the detected seismic activity suggested a less powerful device. The announcement followed hints last month by leader Kim Jong-Un that Pyongyang had already developed a hydrogen, or thermonuclear, bomb -- a claim greeted with scepticism by experts at the time. Crispin Rovere, an Australia-based nuclear policy and arms control specialist, said the 5.1 magnitude tremor detected at the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site was too small to support Pyongyang's claim. "The seismic data that's been received indicates that the explosion is probably significantly below what one would expect from an H-bomb test," Rovere told AFP. more...
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Didn't the US build the first one back in the 50s? This is North Korea's biggest accomplishment since they figured out how the wheel works 20 years ago.
Basically, they are 70 years behind the curve. They are not really any threat to us other than the fact they are bat **** crazy.
They are a huge threat to china, japan, south korea. Well they can always sell their plans. They will just get some more aid money. You don't see anyone trying to invade north Korea. Maybe because there is no oil there.Also China doesn't want to take in millions of impoverished people.
Orrr countries are afraid that if they do invade, Kim Jong the Illest will just use the H bomb on himself, killing the invaders as well in the process.
This was our first H-Bomb -- doubt NK has figured out how to miniaturize this to a deliverable weapon -- if they were even successful.
While behind the curve technology-wise, it doesn't reduce the fact that North Korea has a large and fairly well trained military. The biggest deterents to attacking North Korea are: they basically hold a military knife to a large part of South Korea. If they decided, they could produce mass casualties to South Korean population centers with traditional weapons and overwhelming manpower even if it meant counterattacks would obliterate their country. Additionally, North Korea is a proxy for China. All military actions against North Korea come with the caveat: what would China do? In situations where N. Korea is the aggressor, China would probably let them get beat up. If Japan, S. Korea, or the US was the aggressor, China's response is a big guessing game.
That's the point, though. North Korea's ace in the hole for a deterrent against aggression isn't that they have a chance to win a sustained war. Their deterrent is that they could potentially kill hundreds of thousands if not millions of South Koreans with a large military surge before they are pushed back. There are some that think that Seoul could potentially be devastated. They would have an inability to sustain a long war, but you are betting that South Korea is willing to sacrifice a million people to North Korean aggression to attack North Korea. There are 10,000 pieces of traditional artillery aimed with the ability to reach Seoul. Even if a large chunk didn't work, it would cause mass causalities and panic. They also have a large stockpile of chemical weapons that they could unleash in a barrage against South Korea. Also, if you are South Korea, you can never underestimate a couple million soldiers with basic rifles flooding across your border 35 miles from your capital.
most importantly because North Korea have a massive number of artillery & rockets aimed at Seoul and can strike Seoul within seconds.
