North Korea says it successfully tested first H-bomb

PanARMENIAN.Net - North Korea said it successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear device on Wednesday, January 6 claiming a significant advance in the isolated state's strike capability and setting off alarm bells in Japan and South Korea, Reuters reports.

The test, the fourth time North Korea has exploded a nuclear device, was ordered by young leader Kim Jong Un, state media said.

"The first H-bomb test was successfully conducted at 10:00 (2030 ET) on Wednesday," North Korea's official KCNA news agency said.

Last month, Kim appeared to claim his country had developed a hydrogen bomb, also known as a thermonuclear device, a step up from the less powerful atomic bomb, but the United States and outside experts were skeptical at the time.

South Korean intelligence officials and several analysts questioned whether Wednesday's explosion was indeed a full-fledged test of a hydrogen device.

The device had a yield of about 6 kilotons, according to the office of a South Korean lawmaker on the parliamentary intelligence committee - roughly the same size as the North's last test, which was equivalent to 6-7 kilotons of TNT.

"Given the scale, it is hard to believe this is a real hydrogen bomb," said Yang Uk, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defence and Security Forum.