would be a "hydrogen bomb" - but it might not scare folks quite as much, nor result in more Western payoff moolah flowing to Kim Jong Un.
Posted on 12/10/2015 7:52:44 AM PST by SeekAndFind
If true, North Korea has created a major escalation in the standoff on the peninsula. But is it true that Pyongyang has a hydrogen bomb ready to deploy? Reuters reports that analysts remain skeptical of the claim:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared on Thursday to claim his country has developed a hydrogen bomb, a step up from the less powerful atomic bomb, but outside experts were skeptical.
Kim made the comments as he toured the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site, which marks the feats of his father who died in 2011 and his grandfather, state founder and eternal president, Kim Il Sung, the official KCNA news agency said.
The work of Kim Il Sung “turned the DPRK into a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation,” KCNA quoted Kim Jong Un as saying.
DPRK are the initials of the isolated North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. A hydrogen bomb, also known as a thermonuclear bomb, uses more advanced technology to produce a significantly more powerful blast than an atomic bomb.
This could create a crisis between the two Koreas, as well as between the US, Japan, and China. However, Pyongyang has had a long history of making claims without any substantive proof. Not long ago, Kim’s regime claimed that they had successfully developed a submarine missile launch system and released a laughably doctored photograph showing Kim waving to a missile climbing out of the sea (the front-page thumbnail to this post). The Washington Post reviews some of the less-than-credible claims:
In recent months, Pyongyang said it could launch a submarine ballistic missile, had made nuclear warheads small enough to fit on a missile and had restarted its key nuclear facilities at Yongbyon.
None of these assertions have been proven. In fact, North Korea appears to have disproved the first claim with a failed missile launch from a submarine last month. …
South Korean intelligence specialists were skeptical and dismissed Kim’s words as rhetoric.
“We don’t have any information that North Korea has developed an H-bomb,” Yonhap News Agency quoted an unnamed intelligence official as saying. “We do not believe that North Korea, which has not succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear bombs, has the technology to produce an H-bomb.”
Perhaps the main weapons-development effort in Pyongyang is going towards science fiction. With all of the attention on Iran of late in the nuclear-weapons sweepstakes, this might just be a ploy for attention from a regime notoriously jealous about such things. If so, fine, but there was a time when analysts were skeptical that North Korea could go nuclear, too. Besides, Kim’s regime is up to something. Last week, analysts at Johns Hopkins noticed that the DPRK was building a tunnel which appears to be preparation for a nuclear-weapons test:
Satellite photographs from October and early November indicate North Korea is digging a new tunnel for nuclear testing, a US research institute said on Wednesday.
A report on 38 North, a North Korea monitoring website run by Johns Hopkins University’s school of advanced international studies in Washington, said the images showed significant construction since April at Punggye-ri, on North Korea’s east coast, where three previous nuclear tests were conducted.
However, there are no signs any testing is imminent, it said.
Perhaps the H-bomb claim is mere fantasy, but meanwhile North Korea’s nuclear-weapons development continues apace. They may not have an H-bomb now, but it may not take as long as people think for Pyongyang to get there, either.
Reuters has a broadcast, apparently from North Korea, that consists of photographs of the Dear Leader on this inspection tour, accompanied by hilariously dramatic narration. Presumably, it’s in Korean, but the suckupitude transcends language.
Yeah, and it will probably blow up in their lab while they’re working on it and North Korea will not longer be a problem.
;-)
He is going to MAKE U AWL GWOAH INNA DA DAWWWWWWKKKK!!!
Is there a picture on Young Un pointing at it ? Just waiting for Obama/Kerry to tell us they’ve been negotiating with NK
North Koreans having this H-bomb capability would not be surprising.
If I understand correctly, it takes a small fission bomb to set off a hydrogen fusion bomb. (basically, a hydrogen bomb is two bombs in one)
If they haven’t figured out one, they won’t get to the other...If I recall correctly.
A gas-boosted device maybe, but it takes a lot of engineering to successfully develop a thermonuke. When Pakistan and India were racing to develop their thermos, the “quake sheet” on Drudge showed lots of 3 and 4 Richter events in the mountains, which went away after they announced success.
I think that even with stolen W87 plans handed over from teh Chinese there are a number of issues you can only solve through engineering test to get any measure of reliability.
Kim the Fat decided to have a bomb without a nation, instead of a nation without a bomb.
They have set off atomic bombs. That’s really no secret. I know their last test fizzled, but there are discussions about “why” that might not have been a mistake.
As soon as the photos of Lil’ Kim looking at it emerge they will be found here:
http://kimjongunlookingatthings.tumblr.com/
would be a "hydrogen bomb" - but it might not scare folks quite as much, nor result in more Western payoff moolah flowing to Kim Jong Un.
NK can barely get one to go off properly.
A fission bomb requires exquisite timing of multiple high explosive bombs compressing a heavy-element core.
A fusion bomb requires exquisite timing of multiple fission bombs compressing a light-element core.
If they have trouble detonating one fusion bomb, perfect synchronization of several seems unlikely.
Isn't this the same country that claims to have landed a man on the sun? I sorta doubt they even have a working Atom bomb. My recollection is that their first test was a big fissile. A dud.
The Norks are lucky if they can develop a firecracker that doesn’t either fizzle out or blow up in their hands.
Not sure about the claim of landing on the sun, but Kim Jong Un has unmatched athletic prowess and sets world records in every sport tried so far. </s
How much does he want this time? I just knew when those tests from the sub off the west coast last month that Kim jung bungie boy would flex his muscles and say “Oh Yeah, look at mine”/lol
No it doesn't. There was disinformation to that effect circulating in the 1960's and 70's, but that's not actually how it works. Google "Teller-Ulam staged implosion" for more information.
Well they did land a man on the sun, so I guess this would be easy for them. (sarcasm)
That is correct for an implosion design. The gun assembled version is very low tech.
Their last a-bomb was a certified “fizzle”.
No way they have the H-bomb.
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