Thermonuclear shock: a detailed analysis of the DPRK hydrogen bomb explosion and its consequences. North Korea has tested a hydrogen bomb. World reaction Korea launched a hydrogen bomb
TOKYO, January 6 - RIA Novosti, Ivan Zakharchenko, Ekaterina Plyasunkova. North Korea announced the holding on Wednesday at 04:30 Moscow time of the first, the existence of which was mentioned earlier. Neighboring countries, primarily South Korea and Japan, sounded the alarm and promised to seek new sanctions against the DPRK.
For its part, Pyongyang, having circulated a statement by the government of the country, explained that it went for the development of nuclear weapons to protect itself from the United States and would never be the first to use them unless the sovereignty of the DPRK was violated.
Suspicious earthquake
The alarm was sounded on Wednesday morning after seismologists from different countries recorded an earthquake on the territory of the DPRK, not far from the nuclear test site in the mountainous province of Yangando. Its magnitude reached 5.1, according to European scientists, and 4.3 - according to South Koreans. The epicenter lay at a very shallow depth, less than one kilometer, which immediately aroused suspicions about the possibility of a nuclear test in the north of the Korean Peninsula.
In the afternoon local time, the government's statement was broadcast on the DPRK's central television that an "absolutely successful" test of a hydrogen bomb had been carried out on the orders of the country's leader.
"Until the United States abandons its hostile policy, neither the cessation of nuclear development nor the dismantling of nuclear facilities by the DPRK will ever be possible," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a statement.
"The army and people of the DPRK will firmly build up a just nuclear deterrence force in both quality and quantity in order to reliably guarantee the future of the revolutionary course of Juche (ideology in the DPRK) for all ages," the statement said.
The North Korean government noted that the test of the hydrogen bomb was carried out 100% on its own and with the help of its own technologies.
In another statement, the South Korean government noted that the authorities in Seoul will "work closely with the international community, including allies and countries participating in the Six-Party Talks, to ensure that North Korea pays for the nuclear test, and will take all necessary measures, including additional sanctions in in accordance with the decisions of the UN Security Council.
Japanese reaction
Japan prepares plane for monitoring after North Korean bomb testThe Kawasaki T-4 aircraft is equipped with a dust collector to collect radioactive dust. Earlier, on the air of the central North Korean TV, it was announced the successful test of a hydrogen bomb.The Japanese government also protested to the DPRK. As the Prime Minister of Japan said, conducting a test in the DPRK is a "serious security threat" to his country and "cannot be justified in any way." "I am making a strong condemnation," Shinzo Abe quoted the Kyodo news agency as saying. "This is a violation of the existing resolutions of the UN Security Council and a serious challenge to all the efforts made in the field of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons," the Japanese prime minister added.
Japanese Cabinet Secretary General Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the test in the DPRK "significantly worsens peace and stability in the region and the world community, clearly violates the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the Japan-North Korea Declaration and the Joint Six-Party Agreement." "This cannot be accepted by Japan, we strongly condemn and protest against the actions of the DPRK," the secretary general stressed.
According to the Kyodo news agency, a Kawasaki T-4 training aircraft equipped with a dust collector is currently preparing to take off at the Misawa Air Force Base in the northern Aomori Prefecture. The purpose of the operation will be to monitor the radiation background in the region after the test of the DPRK. In addition, the Japanese government is holding an emergency meeting to determine response measures in case of changes in the radiation background in the country.
US reaction
The White House has not yet confirmed the conduct of a nuclear test in the DPRK, but called on North Korea to comply with international obligations, Agence France-Presse reports citing a statement by Ned Price, spokesman for the US National Security Council.
"While we are unable to confirm these statements, we condemn any violation of UN Security Council resolutions and again call on North Korea to comply with its international obligations," Price said in a statement. Price added that the US would respond appropriately to any provocation by North Korea.
At the same time, the head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) reacted to the DPRK's statement.
"This action is a violation of generally accepted norms prohibiting nuclear testing," said CTBTO chief Lassina Zerbo. "This (nuclear test) is a serious threat to peace and security," he added.
Pyongyang first announced the creation of nuclear weapons back in 2005, and when it was not believed, it conducted nuclear tests three times along with launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The DPRK has repeatedly stated that it did this to protect itself from the United States, so as not to become a "second Iraq." The announcement of a new test, this time of a hydrogen bomb, followed reports of North Korea launching a submarine ballistic missile in the Sea of Japan.
"North Korea apparently tested SLBMs last month," the Yonhap news agency said, citing sources on Wednesday. According to them, "(launch) has not reached a successful stage." North Korea continues to test SLBM missiles, a source told the Yonhap news agency.
The American publication Washington Free Beacon on January 5 reported that the launch was made on December 21 from a submarine near the North Korean port of Sinpo in the Sea of Japan. The publication, citing military sources, claimed that the test was successful.
It followed another test that the DPRK attempted on November 28, but reportedly ended in failure and damaged the Kore (Kit) submarine.
A US source claims that it will take only one year for the DPRK to adopt such missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, while other experts express doubts about this.
Seismologists from a number of countries on September 3 recorded unusual tremors in North Korea. According to Yonhap, according to the Korea Meteorological Agency, located in South Korea, the magnitude of the earthquake was 5.6 points. Geophysicists drew attention to the fact that seismic activity was recorded near the city of Kilju in the province of Hamgyongbukto, where the North Korean nuclear test site is located. The data of South Korean scientists were confirmed by their colleagues from the USA, Japan and China. According to the Chinese side, the power of the push was 6.3 points.
The earthquake happened around 6:30 Moscow time. Chinese and South Korean scientists also recorded a second tremor of less power - about 4.6 points. According to experts from the China Seismological Center (CENC), the second earthquake occurred at 6:38 Moscow time - presumably, it was a collapse and subsidence of the rock that collapsed as a result of the first shock.
According to the Primorsky Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, weak echoes of the earthquake in North Korea were also felt in Vladivostok. However, the radiation background in the Russian Primorye is within the normal range.
“After the alleged nuclear test in the DPRK, no excess background radiation was recorded in the Primorsky Territory,” the agency said in a statement.
According to the United States Geological Survey, tremors in North Korea are nothing more than a "possible explosion."
“If what happened is not an explosion, the National Earthquake Center of the United States Geological Survey cannot determine it (earthquakes. — RT) type,” seismologists said.
Chinese specialists also reported about the "explosion" of high power as a probable cause of two tremors.
The Japanese military noted that the yield of the North Korean bomb was 70 kilotons. The South Korean side estimated the yield of the charge at 100 kilotons, and the Norwegian seismologists talk about an indicator of 120 kilotons - this is six times more powerful than the US bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 (21 kilotons).
In Seoul, an urgent council on internal and external security was convened in connection with the testing of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that North Korea has confirmed the first test of a hydrogen bomb and called it "absolutely successful." The Daily Telegraph reports that North Korean television also reported on the successful test of a thermonuclear charge.
"Power (explosion. - RT) is 10 or 20 times greater than in previous tests,” Kun She, a professor at Seoul National University, told Reuters. “Such a scale speaks of testing a hydrogen bomb,” the expert confirms the information to the media.
Juche motifs
“The test of the hydrogen bomb was conducted in order to test and confirm the accuracy and performance of the power control technology and the internal design of the hydrogen bomb designed to be placed on intercontinental ballistic missiles, the production of which has recently begun,” Yonhap was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). ), the official news agency of the DPRK.
Shortly before the tremors were recorded, the KCNA posted information that the country had developed a new compact hydrogen warhead that could be placed on intercontinental ballistic missiles. Two tests of missiles with a range of up to 10,000 km, capable of hitting not only American bases on the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean, but also the west coast of the United States, North Korea conducted in July.
- North Korean ballistic missile launch
- KCNA/Reuters
The new thermonuclear warhead was personally examined by the leader of the country Kim Jong-un, visiting the Institute for Nuclear Research. “The Supreme Leader watched as a hydrogen bomb was planted on an ICBM,” the KCNA statement emphasized.
“All components of the hydrogen bomb were made by domestic manufacturers, based on the Juche idea. Thus, the country can produce powerful nuclear weapons in as many quantities as it pleases, ”KCNA quotes the North Korean leader.
Immediately after reports of the development of a new nuclear bomb in the DPRK, the leaders of Japan and the United States held telephone conversations on the North Korean issue. Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe "discussed the growing threat from the DPRK" and ways to put pressure on Pyongyang, the White House press service said.
In turn, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono called the actions of the DPRK absolutely inexcusable and called on Russia to put more pressure on North Korea, in particular, to consider imposing an oil embargo on Pyongyang.
However, this gesture, taking into account the history of the region, can be perceived in Pyongyang as a provocation, against the backdrop of ongoing exercises by the United States and South Korea.
“The fuel embargo is directly a preparation for war,” Konstantin Asmolov, a leading researcher at the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told RT. "Because if you've studied history, you know what role the American fuel embargo played in Japan's entry into the war with the United States in 1941."
“Here, both technical and political reasons are intertwined,” explained political scientist Irina Lantsova, who is conducting a nuclear test by the DPRK right now. “The main reason is the pressure and threats from the United States, forcing Pyongyang to strengthen its defenses.”
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense Alexander Sherin, in an interview with RT, said that the United States provoked the DPRK.
“Here I must say a big thank you to the United States, because they put the squeeze on the country. It was they who created such conditions when the state begins to shrink into a ball and spend money on defense. Let American soldiers and bases go to the US borders, and there will be no such arms race in the world, ”the deputy emphasized.
“Now North Korea has found itself in such a situation that it needs to protect itself with a guarantee, and in order to guarantee this protection, it is necessary to conduct tests,” Lantsova notes. “Politics plays a role here indirectly. In this case, it’s not even a demonstration, but a reaction to what is happening.”
“Kim’s goals are clear: to try now, in a very short time, to bring his nuclear missile program to such a level that it would be clear to everyone that there is no third option - either a war starts, or it is necessary to negotiate with North Korea,” said Konstantin Asmolov.
“You have to understand that Kim is not going to communize the south or portray the main reptile of Indian cinema in a fit of psychopathy, his goals are more pragmatic,” the expert says.
- KCNA/Reuters
According to Asmolov, Pyongyang believes that, having received nuclear weapons capable of reaching the United States, it will reach a level of nuclear deterrence similar to that of the US-China. And then, despite the contradictions, the option of war between the two countries will be excluded.
We understand but do not accept
“It cannot but cause regret that the leadership of the DPRK, by its actions aimed at undermining the global non-proliferation regime, poses a serious threat to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region as a whole. The continuation of such a line is fraught with serious consequences for the DPRK itself, ”the Russian Foreign Ministry commented on the nuclear test in the DPRK.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called Pyongyang's actions "an extremely sad act" and "a complete disregard for the repeated demands of the international community."
According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Tokyo has already sent a protest to Pyongyang through diplomatic channels in connection with the test of a thermonuclear charge. Shinzo Abe ordered to keep in touch with representatives of the United States, Russia and China in order to quickly respond to the developing crisis.
- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
- Reuters
“The actions of the DPRK are understandable, but unacceptable, because such a policy, firstly, greatly exacerbates tensions, and secondly, undermines the world order, which is built on the authority of the UN, whose resolutions are ignored, and on the fact that nuclear weapons should be who is supposed to, - notes Konstantin Asmolov. “That is why Moscow and Beijing may question the substance of the sanctions, but believe that every such action should be formally condemned.”
According to the expert, the DPRK chose the date of the test unsuccessfully. “The congress of the Communist Party of China is on the nose, today is the BRICS summit - I think that this will cause a certain emotional irritation of Moscow and Beijing and, naturally, we should expect a new round of tightening sanctions, although there is nowhere to tighten further,” Asmolov said.
Frants Klintsevich, deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Security and Defense, in an interview with RT, called the DPRK nuclear test a provocation.
“If earlier it was a sparring, which, in my opinion, could hardly lead to any serious conflicts, then the tests that have passed today are already a provocation on the part of North Korea. This is really serious. I think this can no longer be allowed. There is no alternative to the negotiation process and peaceful conversation. Today we need to sit down at the negotiating table and solve this problem, because North Korea’s upholding its sovereignty in this way can lead to a very serious conflict, ”Klintsevich emphasized.
Trump will answer
What is Trump going to do now? - Increase pressure on Russia and China to achieve some serious joint action. The bet is that the irritation of Moscow and Beijing with such a step by North Korea will make them more accommodating in terms of American proposals, ”Konstantin Asmolov believes.
In turn, South Korea has already stated that it will seek tougher sanctions against the DPRK, according to Yonhap, citing the head of the National Security Department of the Presidential Administration of South Korea, Jung Eui-yong.
The agency notes that the Korean official has already held relevant consultations with his American counterpart, National Security Adviser to President Trump, General Herbert McMaster. Yonhap also reports that South Korea will seek to host "the most powerful tactical weapon" of the United States.
“We are in for a very serious escalation, one of the most difficult in the last six months,” Irina Lantsova predicts the consequences of new nuclear tests by the DPRK.
- US President Donald Trump
- Reuters
According to the expert, the main problem now is that after a number of high-profile statements from the United States, the leaders of this country have seriously limited their room for maneuver and will most likely be forced to escalate. “The problem is that Trump has threatened so much, promised so much that he now has to do something,” the political scientist says.
“This is not the first nuclear test - this is the sixth nuclear test, and it has always been possible to do something diplomatically,” the expert notes. “But over the past six months, so many formidable promises have been made to do something that you will now have to answer for your words,” Lantsova believes.
“We should expect more emotional involvement,” Asmolov notes. According to the expert, despite the expected tightening of rhetoric from the United States, the likelihood of a new war in Korea now is “only” 35%. “I used to say that the probability of a conflict on the peninsula is approximately 30%, now it has increased by five percent,” the expert believes.
On Sunday, September 3, conducted the sixth nuclear test. On the territory of the country, according to South Korean and Western media reports, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 to 6.3 was recorded. If a nuclear test was indeed carried out, this means that it was the most powerful in the history of the DPRK.
Earlier, South Korean intelligence acknowledged that the DPRK authorities had completed preparations for a nuclear test in two underground tunnels at the Pungeri test site in the northeast of the country.
Subsequently, the DPRK officially announced the successful test of a hydrogen bomb. The corresponding statement was announced on Sunday, September 3, on the air of the DPRK Central Television. It is noted that the tested hydrogen charge could be placed on an intercontinental ballistic missile, TASS reports.
TESTS BETTER THAN THE BOMB EXPLOSIONS IN NAGASAKI AND HIROSHIMA
Apparently, the yield of North Korea's sixth nuclear test was 100 kilotons - about 4-5 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki in Japan in 1945 (21 kilotons), the Yonhap news agency reports. At the same time, the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 18 kilotons. Some media reports that the power of the bomb of the sixth nuclear test of the DPRK could be one megaton.
First, the China Earthquake Administration detected a 6.3 magnitude quake in North Korea, and it was called a "suspicious explosion." The fact is that usually the epicenter of earthquakes is located in the depths, but this time seismologists noticed that it was on the surface of the Earth.
Reuters
Japanese seismologists have determined that the magnitude of the earthquake was 6.3
This gave grounds to experts to conclude that North Korea had conducted its sixth nuclear test. Subsequently, the DPRK itself announced an "exceptionally successful" test of a hydrogen bomb. According to the China Earthquake Administration, the shock occurred around 11:30 a.m. local time - at 5:30 a.m. Kiev time, Reuters reports.
TSN.ua
REACTION OF THE WORLD
Japan through diplomatic channels sent a strong and strong protest to the DPRK in connection with a new nuclear test. This was stated to journalists by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.
"This is absolutely unforgivable," said Kono, who was the first official to announce that the Japanese government estimated that the DPRK had carried out another nuclear test.
"We have come to the conclusion that North Korea has conducted a nuclear test," he said after an emergency meeting of the National Security Council. Taro Kono added that Pyongyang's actions are "a direct and blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions" and stressed that "all options for dealing with North Korea are on the table." "We will get serious about how to respond [to a nuclear test]," he said.
The Japanese Foreign Minister intends to hold telephone conversations with his counterparts from the US and South Korea in the near future. "Now we are preparing [for such calls]," he said.
Reuters
Kim Jong-un gives instructions on the nuclear program stock photo
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered to strengthen monitoring of radiation levels and keep in constant contact with neighboring countries in connection with a possible new nuclear test by the DPRK.
Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, in turn, said that the country's Air Self-Defense Force aircraft are currently measuring possible changes in the level of radiation in the atmosphere after the alleged North Korean nuclear test.
North Korea took US President Donald Trump's speech at the UN about his readiness to "completely destroy" the DPRK as a declaration of war and is ready to retaliate. One of them may be the most powerful in the history of Pyongyang's nuclear tests, an explosion of a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean. This opportunity was allowed by North Korean Foreign Minister Lee Yong Ho, who arrived in New York to speak at a meeting of the UN General Assembly, Yonhap agency reports. According to him, what exactly will be the response of the DPRK, the leader of the country, Kim Jong-un, will determine.
On September 19, Trump, speaking from the UN podium, noted that the United States, "possessing tremendous strength and patience," could "completely destroy" the DPRK. The American president called Kim Jong-un a "rocket man" whose mission is "suicidal for himself and his regime."
The first reaction of the DPRK to these statements was squeamish: the Foreign Ministry compared Trump's promises with the "barking of a dog" that cannot frighten Pyongyang. However, a day later, the official North Korean agency KCNA published Kim Jong-un's commentary on the words of the American president. He described Trump as a "political heretic", "a hooligan and a troublemaker", threatening to wipe out a sovereign state from the face of the earth. The North Korean leader advised his American colleague to "be careful in the choice of words and be attentive to the statements that he makes in the face of the whole world." Trump, according to Pyongyang, is an "outcast and gangster" who is unsuitable for the country's top command. The leader of the DPRK perceived his speech as a refusal of the United States from peace, called it "the most outrageous declaration of war" and promised to seriously consider "super-tough retaliatory measures." Such measures, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, could be a super-powerful test of a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.
At the end of August, Pyongyang, commenting on the launch of its ballistic missile that flew over Japan for the first time, noted that this was “the first step in the military operation of the Korean People’s Army in the Pacific Ocean and a prelude to containing Guam,” where US military bases are located.
Pyongyang's threats to test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific came hours after Trump promised to tighten sanctions against North Korea even further. New restrictions by the UN Security Council were introduced only on 11 September. Then the world organization limited North Korea's ability to import more than 2 million barrels of oil products per year, and also imposed a ban on the export of all its textile products and labor, which brought at least $1.2 billion annually. The UN also authorized the freezing of goods transported under the North Korean flag in in case of refusal of the ship's command from the inspection.
These measures were unanimously supported by all 15 member countries of the UN Security Council. However, initially the United States demanded more, in particular, insisted on a complete ban on the import of petroleum products and personal sanctions against Kim Jong-un. On September 21, Trump announced that he was expanding his administration's powers to impose sanctions against the DPRK. His decree is aimed at cutting off financial flows that "feed North Korea's efforts" to develop nuclear weapons. In particular, Washington intends to tighten sanctions against individuals, businesses and banks that do business with North Korea, Fox News reports. Separately, we are talking about suppliers of technology and information to the DPRK.
The signing of Trump's sanctions order was preceded by his consultations on increasing pressure on the DPRK with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
So far, North Korea has conducted its nuclear tests underground. The last, most powerful, happened on September 3rd. Initially, experts estimated its power at 100–120 kt, which is 5–6 times stronger than the previous one, but later increased their estimates to 250 kt. The magnitude of the explosion, originally estimated at 4.8, was later adjusted to 6.1. These estimates confirmed that the DPRK was able to create a hydrogen bomb, since the yield of a conventional atomic bomb is limited to 30 kt. The successful test of a hydrogen bomb - a missile warhead - was officially announced by Pyongyang.
Even after the underground nuclear test of the DPRK, South Korean observers recorded the release of radioactive gas xenon-133 into the atmosphere, although it was stipulated that its concentration was not hazardous to health and the environment. At the same time, the explosion with a capacity of 250 kt is close to the maximum that the North Korean nuclear test site Pungyo-ri could withstand, experts noted. On satellite images, they recorded landslides and rock subsidence at the sites of underground tests, which could potentially lead to a violation of its integrity and the release of radionuclides to the surface. How many more trials he can endure is unknown.
Until now, the presence of a hydrogen bomb has been officially recognized by five countries with the status of nuclear powers - the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France and China. They are permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power. The completion of the development of such weapons in the DPRK is not recognized.