North Korea claims to have tested hydrogen bomb

North Korea declared on Tuesday that it had detonated its first hydrogen bomb.

The assertion, if true, would dramatically escalate the nuclear challenge from one of the world’s most isolated states.

In an announcement on Central Television, the state-run network, North Korea said the test was a “complete success”. But it was difficult to tell whether the statement was true. North Korea has made repeated claims about its nuclear capabilities that analysts elsewhere have greeted with scepticism.

“This is the self-defensive measure we have to take to defend our right to live in the face of the nuclear threats and blackmail by the United States and to guarantee the security of the Korean Peninsula,” the television announcer said, reading a statement.

The North’s announcement came about an hour after detection devices around the world had picked up a 5.1 seismic event along the country’s northeast coast.

It may be weeks or longer before detectors sent aloft by the U.S. and other powers can determine what kind of test was conducted.

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council said in a statement that U.S. officials “cannot confirm these claims at this time”.

But he said the White House expected “North Korea to abide by its international obligations and commitments”. — New York Times News Service

Source:- The Hindu, 07-Jan-2016