N Korea’s ‘perfect’ H-bomb test sends global shockwaves
a move that set off global reverberations, North Korea said on Sunday that it had tested a hydrogen bomb that it can mount on a missile, declaring “perfect success” in its biggest-ever nuclear detonation and presenting a potent challenge to US President Donald Trump.
Pyongyang has long sought the means to deliver an atomic warhead to the United States, its sworn enemy, and the test will infuriate Washington and regional powers. China, the North’s main ally, issued a swift condemnation.
A jubilant newsreader on state television hailed the “unprecedentedly large” blast, adding the device could be mounted on a missile.
It “marked a very significant occasion in attaining the final goal of completing the state nuclear force”, she added.
US monitors measured a 6.3-magnitude tremor near the North’s main testing site, which South Korean experts said was five to six times stronger than that from the 10-kilotonne test carried out a year ago.
The tremor was also felt in northeastern China, with people in the border city of Yanji saying they fled their homes in their underwear, and in the Russian Pacific city of Vladivostok.
Whatever the final figure, Jeffrey Lewis of the armscontrolwonk website said, it was “a staged thermonuclear weapon” which represents a significant advance in North Korea’s weapons programme.
Hours earlier, North Korea released images of leader Kim Jong-Un at the Nuclear Weapons Institute, inspecting what it said was a miniaturised Hydrogen bomb that could be fitted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the raindrenched southeastern coastal city of Xiamen on Sunday for the 9th BRICS summit against the backdrop of a much-anticipated meeting with President Xi Jinping following the resolution of the two-month Doklam standoff last week.
When Modi meets Xi on Tuesday at the end of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit, it will be the first time the two leaders will have a one-on-one after the resolution of the military impasse that had plunged bilateral ties to a new chill.
The much-anticipated bilateral meeting will be Modi’s last engagement in China before he flies to Myanmar for a state visit. Border troops from both countries were locked in a standoff at the Doklam (Donglang in Chinese) area near the Sikkim boundary.
China had repeatedly blamed India for intervening in that area and for triggering the military impasse. It accused Indian soldiers of “illegal trespass” in the region; The Doklam area is under China’s control but claimed by Bhutan. ››P4