North Korea Announces Hydrogen Bomb Test

In a bid to show its military might, North Korea says it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.

State media announced the test after monitors detected a 5.1 magnitude quake close to a nuclear test site.

Other world leaders are already raising eyebrows with this move, Japaneses Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has said this fourth test is a “serious threat to the safety of his nation”.

After the last test, in 2013, there was a widespread condemnation. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting at which its members, including China, “strongly condemned”.

A hydrogen bomb uses fusion to create a blast far more powerful than that of a basic atomic bomb.

The North is thought to have conducted three previous underground nuclear tests since 2006.

The BBC reported that on top of any fourth nuclear test, North Korea also appears to have tested a submarine-launched missile.

Before the test, North Korean state media said the country “deserved to hold nuclear weapons to counter nuclear threats by the US”.

Experts had believed North Korea was still some years from being able to hit a target with a nuclear bomb delivered by a missile. But it is crystal clear that it is absolutely determined to be able to do so. It is also clear that it is improving its abilities rapidly.