H-bomb test “grave violation” of N.Korea’s obligations if true, EU says

Washington and nuclear experts have been sceptical about past North Korean claims about H-bombs, which are much more powerful and much more hard to make, than atomic bombs.

Sky News Asia Correspondent Katie Stallard said: “They desperately want the world to believe that they have successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb, but at this stage there is no proof this has happened”.

A hydrogen bomb, or a thermonuclear bomb, uses fusion in a chain reaction.

After its last nuclear test in 2013, the North restarted a plutonium reactor that it had shut down at its Yongbyon complex in 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament accord.

“We strongly urge the DPRK to honor its commitment to denuclearization, and to cease any action that may deteriorate the situation”, Hua said.

The news was broadcast on state television, which also showed a copy of Kim’s initial signed order dated December 15. “We have consistently made clear that we will not accept it as a nuclear state”.

Regardless of the nature of the test, if confirmed it could strain North Korea’s relations with China, its closest ally.

Bruce Bennett, an analyst with the Rand Corporation, was among those casting doubts on Pyongyang’s test.

US President Barack Obama, during a visit to South Korea in 2014, lashed North Korea as a “pariah state” and vowed sanctions with “more bite” if Pyongyang went ahead with another test.

“With this in mind, it is quite possible that Kim’s claim could be untrue, which would come as no surprise to those familiar with the regime’s saber rattling”.

If not an H-bomb, what could North Korea have? .

But even a boosted weapon could cause serious destruction.

South Koreans watch TV news showing North Korea’s breaking news, at Seoul station, in Seoul, South Korea, January 6, 2016.

The largest hydrogen bomb in the United States arsenal has a yield of 1.2 megatons.

A megaton is equal to 1 million tons of TNT. A confirmed test would mark another big step toward Pyongyang’s goal of building a warhead small enough to be mounted on a missile capable of reaching mainland America’s shores.

But, he wrote on the North Korea-focussed 38 North website, “The North has now had a nuclear weapons program for more than 20 years”.

“Tough measures are needed, including the strict sanctions of the UN Security Council and allied and friendly nations”, she was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

“All the choices with North Korea are bad”, Chinoy said. North Korean nuclear scientists have access to their counterparts in Pakistan, possibly Iran and maybe a few other places.

And starting a war, of course, would be extremely risky.