North Korea test of bomb amplifies crisis
Trump sharply condemns action in tweets that also vent frustration with South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test Sunday in an extraordinary show of defiance against President Donald Trump, who responded by declaring the country “hostile and dangerous to the United States” and criticizing a U.S. ally, South Korea, for “talk of appeasement.”
The underground blast, which caused tremors that were felt in both South Korea and China, was the first by the North to clearly surpass the destructive power of the bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
The government said it had tested a hydrogen bomb that could be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile, and hours before the detonation, it released photographs of its leader, Kim Jong Un, examining what it said was the new weapon.
Hydrogen bombs are vastly more powerful than ordinary atomic weapons, and though some analysts were skeptical of the North’s claim, the early estimate of outside experts was that the weapon detonated underground Sunday morning was most likely four to 16 times more powerful than any the North has detonated before.
Hours after the test, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis emerged from a meeting with Trump to warn the country that “any threat to the United States or its territory, including Guam or our allies, will be met with a massive military response.”
But Mattis, in a terse statement delivered on the White House driveway with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, was paired with a word of reassurance to Kim.
“We are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea,” he said. “But as I said, we have many options to do so.”
The statement echoed past comments by the defense secretary as well as a warning issued by President George W. Bush after the North’s first atomic test, in 2006. In that statement, Bush also said North Korea would be held responsible if it ever exported any of its nuclear weapons technology to other nations or to terrorists.
Mattis’ statement left open many questions, including whether Trump will attempt a diplomatic opening to the North, which has declined negotiations aimed at forcing it to give up its nuclear arsenal, or whether he might attempt targeted military attacks or sabotage aimed at crippling Kim’s ability to threaten the United States.
Trump threatened last month to bring “fire and fury” to North Korea if it continued to threaten the United States with nuclear missiles, and two weeks ago, after a brief lull in the North’s testing, he said he thought Kim “respected” him and might be ready to turn to negotiations.
But the test, which followed the launch last week of a ballistic missile over Japan into the north Pacific, prompted another shift in tone by Trump, who responded on Twitter with posts that suggested anger at the North but also frustration with China and, notably, the new liberal government of President Moon Jae-in of South Korea.
“North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success,” he said. “South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!”
The president’s options are limited. Although the Pentagon has revised its military options for strikes against missile and nuclear sites, and Trump’s aides have talked about how a “preventive war” might be necessary, the risk of rekindling the Korean War looms large.