scale. But this seismic event was not due to shifting fault lines; rather, an underground

explosion. North Korean officials claimed that they had successfully tested a hydrogen

nuclear weapon. However, the South Korean sources estimated a yield of about 6 to 9

kilotons, which is considered too low for such a bomb. Sources say it was either an

unsuccessful test, or a less powerful fission based nuclear weapon. Nonetheless, North Korea’s

attempts at nuclear proliferation have been steadily continuing over the last few decades,

despite international efforts to stop them. So we wanted to know, how does North Korea

have nuclear weapons?

Well, since 2006, North Korea has allegedly conducted four underground nuclear tests,

roughly one every three to four years. The presence of radioactivity has suggested that

these have, indeed, been nuclear weapons. However, few sources outside of North Korea

believe that they have moved beyond traditional fission based bombs. These are considerably

more basic and less powerful than modern thermonuclear weapons, or H-bombs.

Following World War II and the division of Korea between the US and Soviet Union, North

Korea received considerable support from the Soviets, including a nuclear research reactor

in the mid 1960s. They allegedly refused to help North Korea with nuclear weapon development,

focusing on nuclear energy instead. The eventual Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center

was built in part with the assistance of the Soviet Union. The site is believed to have

produced some of the materials necessary for North Korea’s multiple nuclear weapons tests.

In the 1980s, North Korea signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which attempts to

get countries to disarm their nuclear weapons and focus on nuclear energy. It is the largest

arms treaty in the world, originally signed by 191 states. Then, a few years later after

the collapse of the Soviet Union, their primary benefactor, North Korea agreed to disarm in

exchange for light water energy reactors from the United States. However, this deal fell

apart, and North Korea withdrew from the NPT in 2003. By 2005, they announced that they

were in possession of nuclear weapons.

Part of the reason for repeat agreements to disarm, followed by nuclear and missile testing,

is that North Korea allegedly continued to seek out nuclear weapons technology and information.

The founder of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, released documents

claiming that in the late 1990s North Korean officials bribed Pakistani military officials

in exchange for technical knowledge and equipment. Pakistan vehemently denies this, and calls

the documents fake, saying that Khan made the deals alone.

In the end, North Korea’s nuclear power may be growing at a slow pace, despite sanctions

and embargoes designed to stop them. But it has done so thanks to a clear level of dishonesty

concerning their actual nuclear capabilities. Even if they don’t have a hydrogen bomb,

as many sources now say, they still have the capacity to cause serious and irreversible

damage.

Hydrogen bombs are clearly serious business — and they’re much more powerful compared

to atomic bombs of the past. Learn more about the science behind the H-bomb’s power in

this video by DNews. Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more

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