North Korea Claims to Have Tested Its First Hydrogen Bomb

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un said on December 10 the country had a hydrogen bomb of its own.

If confirmed, the test would mark another big step toward Pyongyang’s goal of building a warhead that can be mounted on a missile capable of reaching the United States mainland.

A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast on North Korea’s nuclear test at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2015.

They also agreed to the importance of close coordination with the worldwide community and regional partners in condemning this action.

Japan also said it could propose various economic and other sanctions against North Korea to the UN in cooperation with the United States, but did not give details. Noting that the council had promised “further significant measures” if another test were performed, Rosselli added that the member nations “will begin to work immediately on such measures in a new Security Council resolution”.

And as Foreign Policy magazine put it, North Korea’s fourth nuclear test since 2006 “hasn’t endeared the North to any potential allies, as both China and Russian Federation have joined the chorus of global condemnation of the test”.

“I have been warning throughout this campaign that North Korea is run by a lunatic who has been expanding his nuclear arsenal while President Obama has stood idly by”, Rubio said.

“While we can not confirm at this time that a test was carried out, we condemn any violation of UNSC resolutions and again call on North Korea to abide by its worldwide obligations and commitments”, Hagar Chemali, a spokeswoman for the American mission, told Reuters.

The country “strongly condemned” the test and warned Pyongyang that it would be made to “pay the price” for ignoring worldwide opinion.

North Korea conducted its last nuclear test in 2013. For whatever was tested, there was enough evidence to kick into gear a special meeting of the UN Security Council. “North Korea appears to have had a hard time mastering even the basics of a fission weapon”, Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, told CNN.

The site of Tuesday’s quake is about 5 miles from the Punggye-ri nuclear site where a test was conducted in 2013.

Tubby tyrant Kim Jong-un has long spoken of the need for his country to bolster its nuclear capabilities, saying it was needed to protect against “US aggression”.