North Korea announced today the first test of a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb, "a historic event for the DPRK" according to the words of the North Korean media. Details of the test are not given, based on indirect evidence from the South Korean meteorological stations that registered an earthquake with a magnitude of 4-5 points at the moment of the explosion, the bomb was planted and detonated at a depth of 100 m. In the official statement of the DPRK, it was stressed that the country intends to use these weapons in case of violation of its sovereignty.
If these tremors were indeed caused by a bomb, then, according to the calculations of experts, its capacity was much lower then the standards of thermonuclear weapons – only 6 kt (for comparison, the world's first hydrogen bomb exploded at the Semipalatinsk test site in 1953 had a capacity of 400 kt ).
In connection with such a small capacity of the exploded device, opinions about what happened among the two nearest neighbors of North Korea were divided: Japan agreed that North Korea actually detonated a nuclear bomb, South Korea doubts that it was actually a thermonuclear bomb. ‘’According to all available data, the government believes that the DPRK conducted a nuclear test," a source in the diplomatic circles of Japan said, referring to the statement of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The intelligence of South Korea, in turn, draws attention to the fact that the magnitude of the earthquake is too weak. "During the third trial (2013) the explosive power was 7.9 kilotons, a magnitude 4.9 earthquake, and this time the power was 6 kilotons and the magnitude even smaller – 4.8. A hydrogen bomb has a capacity of several hundred tonnes, even in the case of unsuccessful tests it should be several tens of tons," the South Korean intelligence service explained their findings.
Nevertheless, this fact, which violates international treaties in the field of nuclear weapons, has caused an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, initiated by the United States and Japan, which will take place at 19:00 MSK. Both countries called on North Korea to comply with its international obligations. "The tests conducted by North Korea are a serious threat to Japan's security, significantly impair peace and stability in the region and the international community, clearly violate the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, the Sino-North Korean declaration and the joint six-party agreement. This cannot be accepted by Japan, we strongly condemn and express protest against the actions of the DPRK,’’ the RIA Novosti news agency cites the words of the secretary general of the Government of Japan, Esihide Sugi.
