Why Is This Important?
Because if North Korea has a hydrogen bomb then we should all be pretty scared.
Long Story Short
North Korea claims it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, but observers believe that the massive explosion may have just been a test involving a uranium or plutonium device.
Long Story
North Korea insists that it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb underground, but the international community has called those claims into question.
An earthquake of around 5.1 on the Richter Scale hit North Korea last night near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and tremors were felt in several Chinese cities.
The quakes were followed by an announcement on North Korean state TV that: “The republic’s first hydrogen bomb test has been successfully performed at 10 a.m. on January 6, 2016.”
If that’s true then North Korea now poses a substantially greater threat to the US and the rest of the world than before.
North Korea has atomic weapons, which were used against Japan in World War II and use fission, or splitting atoms, to create explosions. But they are yet to prove they have hydrogen bombs, which are more destructive still as they use fusion, merging atoms, to release huge amounts of energy.
Fortunately, however, it seems that Kim Jong-un may have been bending the truth. Experts suggest that North Korea’s fourth nuclear test since 2006 didn’t create a large enough explosion for a hydrogen bomb and may have been a uranium or plutonium device instead.
It is widely believed that North Korea isn’t capable of constructing a nuclear weapon small enough to fit on a missile.
Rand Corporation analyst Bruce Bennett told the BBC: “The bang they should have gotten would have been 10 times greater than what they’re claiming. So Kim Jong-un is either lying, saying they did a hydrogen test when they didn’t, they just used a little bit more efficient fission weapon -- or the hydrogen part of the test really didn’t work very well.”
Nonetheless whatever North Korea did use was stronger than previous tests and clearly powerful enough to cause some serious damage, and the latest inflammatory actions will again raise fears of World War III.
Own The Conversation
Ask The Big Question: How dangerous is North Korea and how much is bluster?
Disrupt Your Feed: It’s very bad news if North Korea has an H-bomb, but fortunately Kim Jong-un isn’t exactly the most trustworthy of sources. Time to send in Team America: World Police?
Drop This Fact: The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization International Data Centre in Vienna has showed that this explosion was very similar to North Korea’s 2013 nuclear test, which was not a hydrogen bomb.