North Korea claimed on Wednesday to have successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test, a move that—if true—would mark a notable advance in the country’s nuclear capabilities and a significantly increased threat to the world.
The development was announced by North Korea’s official KCNA news agency and has not been independently confirmed.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a seismic event measuring at a magnitude of 5.1 occurred 12 miles east-northeast of Sungjibaegam on Wednesday morning, with a blast yield in the 10 to 15 kiloton range. The BBC reports: “The estimated size of the blast suggests that they did not succeed in detonating a full thermonuclear device, experts say, because in that case you would expect a blast closer to 100 kilotons or more.”
Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, which works to prevent the spread and use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and other weapons of war, weighed in on social media:
Regardless, the announcement drew immediate condemnation from world leaders. Italy’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, for example, reportedly urged his Japanese counterpart to discuss “the necessary reactions of the international community” to what Rome called North Korea’s “provocation” if it is confirmed that a nuclear test was carried out. Japan currently holds the rotating helm of the Group of 7 industrialized nations, of which Italy is a member.
But anti-nuclear activists warned against knee-jerk responses and rhetorical escalation in the wake of the detonation.
While it denounced the nuclear test, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) said it was “another indication of the inability of the current nuclear regime to prevent states from seeking, possessing or modernizing nuclear weapons.” The group urged states to go beyond condemning North Korea’s actions, saying such censure “must be followed by the development of an international prohibition on nuclear weapons similar to the bans on chemical and biological weapons.”
“All responsible states should negotiate new law on nuclear weapons, take a clear stand against the possession and reliance on this weapon of mass destruction and develop an unambiguous prohibition of nuclear weapons,” said Beatrice Fihn, ICAN executive director.
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