North Korea has lately come up with a threat. Its leader Kim Jong Un claimed Thursday the country is ready to detonate a hydrogen bomb that is known to be more powerful than atomic bomb.
The country has already conducted atomic tests thrice but this is the first time it claims to have built a hydrogen bomb.
Meanwhile, the South Korean intelligence specialists have dismissed the words of Kim saying they don’t believe it as the country has not even succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear bombs and hence technology to produce hydrogen bomb is distance away from them.
The statement of Kim came while on a tour inspecting an upgraded arms plant in Pyongyang Revolutionary Site, which was earlier visited several times by founding president and his grandfather Kim II Sung and father Kim Jong II.
It had been reported soon after the division of Korean Peninsula in 1945 Kim II Sung test-fired sub-machine gun at the site.
On February 10, 2005 the country declared to have developed nuclear weapons and international community condemned it widely. Since then North Korea has conducted underground nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and also in 2013.
The first test was recorded by seismic stations in Russia, Australia, Japan, China and also South Korea estimating nuclear device of about 5 to 10 kilotons of TNT has been exploded. The test was done at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site.
The next two tests resulted with unilateral sanctions by the United States for the violation of non-proliferation regime. The nuclear device power was estimated to about 10 to 20 kilotons of TNT each.
A new sanction was imposed by the UN Security Council after the country threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike against South Korea and US following the nuclear test. Penalties on its banking, travel and trade were sanctioned.
Close ally China reacted to the new claim of Kim saying the situation is delicate and complex on the Korean peninsula.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Huan Chunying added they hope concerned effort will be made to bring peace and stability.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry spokesperson said they have no intelligence report on the new H-bomb claim of North Korea and they are monitoring closely the nuclear activities of their neighbor.
Technically the two Korean countries are at war since 1959-53 conflict that ended in a truce. Repeatedly following it the North has been threatening of destroying the South.
One thing cannot be denied that no one outside a close circle of experts and leaders in Pyongyang knows about the development made in the North Korea’s nuclear programme. Hence, the claim has to be given a good year by South Korea as well as international community.
Also, not to forget the claim of North Korean leaders made in 2010 saying the country said it had successfully developed fusion technology.
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