North Korea 'Detonates First Hydrogen Bomb'

By April Rixon, January 6, 2016

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News reports have exploded around the globe, with a North Korea TV broadcast declaring "the republic's first hydrogen bomb test has been successfully performed at 10am on January 6, 2016, based on the strategic determination of the Worker's Party."

In justification of their actions, the report went on to state "The US has gathered forces hostile to DPRK and raised a slanderous human rights issue to hinder DPRK’s improvement. It is just to have H-bomb as self-defense against the US having numerous and humongous nuclear weapons. The DPRK’s fate must not be protected by any forces but DPRK itself."

The DPRK say that leader Kim Jong un signed the order to test the hydrogen bomb on January 3rd, and the Pyongyang bureau of Xinhua, China’s official news agency, report the test was hailed a  “total success.” 

State media had announced the test after monitors detected a 5.1 magnitude quake close to the Punggye-ri site. The DPRK is thought to have conducted three previous underground nuclear tests at that same site since 2006.

This, though, is North Korea's first claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb - also known as a thermo-nuclear bomb - which uses fusion to create a blast, and is more powerful than a basic atomic bomb.

The White House has since posted an official response to the claims, saying "we condemn any violation of UN Security Council Resolutions and again call on North Korea to abide by its international obligations and commitments."

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