South Korea Reacts As North Korea Confirms Hydrogen Bomb Test (Photo : Facebook)
There are two indicators that suggest North Korea was exaggerating when it claims to have exploded a hydrogen bomb on Wednesday. Defense experts instead believe it was a boosted-fission bomb.
So far, radiation data collected along China's border with North Korea by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) say that the radiation level is normal. But even if it is the fourth time that Pyongyang had tested bombs which caused the earth to shake, residents are still fearful of the impact of the radiation on their health, says Yanji resident Han Yunqing., reports Global Times.
Residents of Yanji - located 10 kilometers away from the North Korea border - and those from Hunchun and Changbai, which are all part of Jilin Province, felt the tremor caused by the bomb testing. It measured a magnitude of 4.8 with an explosive power, or yield, of six kilotons, reports Xinhua News Agency.
Even if the North Korean bombs are not optimized in their design and the materials used to make the bombs are not reliable yet, radioactive leaks, nevertheless, could seriously impact quality of water and air near the border, warns Lu Chao, researcher at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.
Another indicator to add doubts to Kim Jung Un's boast of capability to make a hydrogen bomb - supposed to be more powerful than an atomic bomb - was the smaller seismic wave caused by the explosion than what a real thermonuclear weapon would create, explains The New York Times.
Global leaders, led by U.S. President Barack Obama and UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, nevertheless condemned the testing even if Pyongyang apparently exploded a lesser bomb. Due to North Korea's failure to give a warning about the test, China - its ally - said it was "strongly against this act."
However, some U.S. officials believe the bomb testing was North Korea's way of getting back at Beijing over the alleged bad treatment that an all-female band from the communist nation got in China that the musical group cancelled their performances and headed back home upon landing at the airport.
