Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, reported Saturday that North Korea’s state media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), claimed on Sunday local time that it has developed a hydrogen bomb to be mounted on its new ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile).
Yonhap News Tweet (Twitter)
Kim Jong Un, the North Korean dictator, reportedly inspected the H-bomb on his visit to his Nuclear Weapons Institute, according to state media.
There has been no response yet from the U.S. government. This development comes after months of heated rhetoric between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Yonhap further reported:
The institute has succeeded in developing a “more developed nuke,” bringing about a “signal turn” in the country’s nuclear weaponization, according to the report.
Scientists “further upgraded its technical performance at a higher ultra-modern level on the basis of precious successes made in the first H-bomb test,” the KCNA said.
The H-bomb can be detonated even at high altitudes for super-powerful EMP attacks, it added.
In January 2016, North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test, which Pyongyang claimed to be a successful test of a hydrogen bomb. Outside experts said that it appeared to be a test of a boosted fission weapon, rather than an H-bomb.
North Korea has carried out five nuclear tests since 2006 including two last year. It is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon small enough to be mounted on an ICBM.
The announcement came amid heightened tensions after North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan last week.
In July, North Korea tested two ICBMs, which analysts say could put much of the U.S. mainland within range, including Los Angeles and Chicago.
