North Korea said it
successfully tested a miniaturised hydrogen nuclear device on Wednesday ,
claiming a significant advance in its strike capability and setting off
alarm bells in Japan and South Korea. The test, the fourth time the
isolated state has exploded a nuclear device, was ordered by supreme
leader Kim Jongun and successfully conducted at 10am local time, North
Korea's official KCNA news agency said. “Let the world look up to the
strong, self-reliant nuclear-armed state,“ Kim said in what North Korean
state TV showed as a handwritten note.
The test drew condemnation abroad, including from China and Russia, North Korea's two allies. The White House said it could not confirm Pyongyang's claims but added that the US would respond appropriately to provocations. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan would make a firm response to North Korea's challenge aga inst nuclear non-prolifera tion. “North Korea's nuclear test is a serious threat to our nation's security and we can not tolerate it,“ Abe said. “We strongly denounce it.“
South Korea said it would take all possible measures, including possible UN sanc tions, to ensure Pyongyang paid the price after its fourth nuclear test. China expressed “resolute opposition“ and sa id it would lodge a protest with Pyongyang.
While a fourth nuclear test had been long expected, the claim that it was a hydro gen device, much more po werful than an atomic bomb, came as a surprise, as did the timing.
It ensures that North Ko rea will be a key topic during the US presidential campa ign. North Korea has long coveted diplomatic recogni tion from Washington but se es its nuclear deterrent as crucial to ensuring the survi val of its third-generation dictatorship.
“With Iran being off the table, the North Koreans have placed themselves at the top of the foreign policy agenda as far as nation-states who present a threat to the US,“ sa id Michael Madden, an expert on the country's secretive lea dership. South Korean intel ligence officials and several analysts, however, questio ned whether Wednesday's ex plosion was indeed a full-fled ged test of a hydrogen device.
The device had a yield of about 6 kilotons, according to the office of a South Korean lawmaker on the parliamen tary intelligence committee -roughly the same size as the North's last test, which was equivalent to 6-7 kilotons of TNT.
“Given the scale, it is hard to believe this is a real hydro gen bomb,“ said Yang Uk, a se nior research fellow at the Ko rea Defence and Security Fo rum. “They could have tested some middle stage kind (of device) between an A-bomb and H-bomb, but unless they come up with any clear evi dence, it is difficult to trust their claim.“
Joe Cirincione, a nuclear expert and president of Plo ughshares Fund, a global se curity organisation, said North Korea may have mixed a hydrogen isotope in a nor mal atomic fission bomb.
“Because it is, in fact, hyd rogen, they could claim it is a hydrogen bomb,“ he said.
“But it is not a true fusion bomb capable of the massive multi-megaton yields these bombs produce.“
The US Geological Survey reported a 5.1magnitude qua ke that South Korea said was 49 km from the Punggye-ri si te where the North has con ducted nuclear tests in the past. North Korea's last test of an atomic device, in 2013, also registered at 5.1 on the USGS scale.
The test nevertheless may mark an advance of North Korea's nuclear technology .
The claim of miniaturising, which would allow the device to be adapted as a weapon and placed on a missile, would al so pose a new threat to the US and its regional allies, Japan and South Korea.
The test drew condemnation abroad, including from China and Russia, North Korea's two allies. The White House said it could not confirm Pyongyang's claims but added that the US would respond appropriately to provocations. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan would make a firm response to North Korea's challenge aga inst nuclear non-prolifera tion. “North Korea's nuclear test is a serious threat to our nation's security and we can not tolerate it,“ Abe said. “We strongly denounce it.“
South Korea said it would take all possible measures, including possible UN sanc tions, to ensure Pyongyang paid the price after its fourth nuclear test. China expressed “resolute opposition“ and sa id it would lodge a protest with Pyongyang.
While a fourth nuclear test had been long expected, the claim that it was a hydro gen device, much more po werful than an atomic bomb, came as a surprise, as did the timing.
It ensures that North Ko rea will be a key topic during the US presidential campa ign. North Korea has long coveted diplomatic recogni tion from Washington but se es its nuclear deterrent as crucial to ensuring the survi val of its third-generation dictatorship.
“With Iran being off the table, the North Koreans have placed themselves at the top of the foreign policy agenda as far as nation-states who present a threat to the US,“ sa id Michael Madden, an expert on the country's secretive lea dership. South Korean intel ligence officials and several analysts, however, questio ned whether Wednesday's ex plosion was indeed a full-fled ged test of a hydrogen device.
The device had a yield of about 6 kilotons, according to the office of a South Korean lawmaker on the parliamen tary intelligence committee -roughly the same size as the North's last test, which was equivalent to 6-7 kilotons of TNT.
“Given the scale, it is hard to believe this is a real hydro gen bomb,“ said Yang Uk, a se nior research fellow at the Ko rea Defence and Security Fo rum. “They could have tested some middle stage kind (of device) between an A-bomb and H-bomb, but unless they come up with any clear evi dence, it is difficult to trust their claim.“
Joe Cirincione, a nuclear expert and president of Plo ughshares Fund, a global se curity organisation, said North Korea may have mixed a hydrogen isotope in a nor mal atomic fission bomb.
“Because it is, in fact, hyd rogen, they could claim it is a hydrogen bomb,“ he said.
“But it is not a true fusion bomb capable of the massive multi-megaton yields these bombs produce.“
The US Geological Survey reported a 5.1magnitude qua ke that South Korea said was 49 km from the Punggye-ri si te where the North has con ducted nuclear tests in the past. North Korea's last test of an atomic device, in 2013, also registered at 5.1 on the USGS scale.
The test nevertheless may mark an advance of North Korea's nuclear technology .
The claim of miniaturising, which would allow the device to be adapted as a weapon and placed on a missile, would al so pose a new threat to the US and its regional allies, Japan and South Korea.
Source:- Times Of India, 07-Jan-2016
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