A senior North Korean diplomat has suggested that Pyongyang might conduct a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific—the first atmospheric nuclear blast since China’s October 16,1980, detonation. « It could be the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb in the Pacific, » North Korean foreign minister
Dave Majumdar
Security, Asia
Why History Proves North Korea Just Might Test a Nuclear Weapon in the Pacific
A senior North Korean diplomat has suggested that Pyongyang might conduct a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific—the first atmospheric nuclear blast since China’s October 16,1980, detonation.
« It could be the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb in the Pacific, » North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong-ho told reporters according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency .
« We have no idea about what actions could be taken as it will be ordered by leader Kim Jong-un. »
While its is not certain how such events might unfold, or even if North Korea will conduct such a trial, it is possible that Pyongyang would opt for an end-to-end test of a ballistic missile tipped with a nuclear warhead.
Juche Bird, Explained:
Earlier this month, Jeffrey Lewis, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, told The National Interest that believes that North Korea could very well conduct such a test—something he has dubbed Juche Bird .
Lewis named the hypothetical North Korean test as such because of an earlier American end-to-end test of a nuclear-tipped Polaris submarine launched ballistic missile called Frigate Bird on May 6,1962.
