WASHINGTON 鈥斅燦orth Korean officials bragged early Wednesday morning that it conducted a hydrogen bomb test.
U.S. officials are downplaying the claim.
Experts say while it may not have been a thermonuclear blast, which is exponentially more powerful than an atomic explosion, what happened is a critical development.
鈥淲hat North Korea tested may be more powerful than anything it鈥檚 has tested to date and could be a step toward a hydrogen bomb,鈥� former United Nations weapons inspector David Kay told 蜜桃视频app.
He said it鈥檚 possible that they鈥檝e actually managed to create a 鈥渂oosted device.鈥�
In this case, 鈥渢hat device may not be a pure thermonuclear device, or what is commonly called a hydrogen bomb, but something more moderate,鈥� said Kay, now a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.
There is nothing moderate about the carnage nuclear weapons can cause.
Almost 200,000 Japanese died in the late stages of World War II, after the U.S dropped two Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
By comparison, the nuclear weapons North Korea has are much weaker. But the power of a hydrogen bomb 鈥渋s exponentially greater than an atomic bomb,鈥� said Joseph Detrani, president of the Daniel Morgan National Security Academy in Washington.
The real concern, Kay said, is North Korea鈥檚 stated quest to shrink a powerful nuclear device small enough to fit on the head of a long-range missile.
鈥淨uite frankly,鈥� said Kay, 鈥渋f I was trying to miniaturize a nuclear device, a fission device, I would go for a small boosting.鈥�
U.S. intelligence sources told 蜜桃视频app just hours after the event, 鈥淧yongyang consecutively issued two authoritative pronouncements; a Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee (CC) “historic order” and a government “statement,鈥� stating that it had “successfully” conducted its first hydrogen bomb test at “1000 Pyongyang time.鈥�
The statements said the test was aimed at defending itself from Washington’s “hostile” policy and nuclear threat.
The U.S. Geological Survey concurred that it detected a 5.1-magnitude seismic event at 10 a.m. local Pyongyang time in the northeast section of the country, about 30 miles northwest of Kilju city, which is very close to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
The test appears to have been a warning to North Korea鈥檚 neighbors Japan, and South Korea; and particularly the U.S.
In a stream of statements shortly after the blast, The North Korean government said the test was aimed at defending itself from Washington’s “hostile” policy and nuclear threat.
North Korea is believed to have less than 20 nuclear weapons, but Kay said even though they鈥檝e threatened to attack the U.S., in the past, the North Korean leadership is not looking for a nuclear war with the U.S.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 enter a nuclear exchange when you have one to maybe 15 with a country that counts them in the thousands and I don鈥檛 think the North Koreans are yet that suicidal,鈥� said Kay.
The explosion triggered an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council out of concern that North Korea has a significant step forward in process called miniaturization, which is shrinking a nuclear weapon small enough to fit on the head of a missile.
While still investigating what happened, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters the “initial analysis” of the explosions was “not consistent” with North Korea鈥檚 claim that it successfully conducted hydrogen bomb tests.
Earnest rebuked the North Korean government, saying 鈥�their isolation has only deepened as they have sought to engage in increasingly provocative acts. These include not just nuclear tests but some of the ballistic missile tests.鈥�
Whether it was a thermonuclear test may never be determined, Detrani said.
But he said it doesn鈥檛 matter. The damage has been done.
“Regardless of whether we get the particulars to say it was or it wasn’t, we know they are pursuing a Hydrogen bomb capability. That is in itself very, very significant, said Detrani.
As the world decried North Korea鈥檚 actions, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo spoke by phone to discuss potential alliance responses to the test.
The Pentagon said in a statement that Carter and Han agreed the test was 鈥渁n unacceptable and irresponsible provocation and is both a flagrant violation of international law and a threat to the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the entire Asia-Pacific region.鈥�
