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Kim Jong Un Reportedly Revealed North Korea's Development Of A Hydrogen Bomb, State-Run News Agency Says

by Therese Agcopra / Dec 10, 2015 12:59 PM EST
Pyongyang (Photo by Xiaolu Chu/Getty Images)

North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un revealed recently that the country has developed hydrogen bombs, a Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday.

State-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted Kim as saying the country was "ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb."

According to Yonhap News, North Korea has reportedly transformed into a "powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation" as a result of the continuous efforts spearheaded by Kim's late grandfather Kim Il Sung.   

The announcement was made during Kim Jong Un's inspection of the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site, a historical spot for North Korea's arms industry.

The Phyongchon Revolutionary Site commemorates North Korea's first munitions factory, which was built in 1945.

Experts added that this is the first time Kim made a public reference to North's hydrogen bombs development.

However, skepticism abounds among South Korea's intelligence community.

"We don't have any information that North Korea has developed an H-bomb," a South Korean intelligence officer said. "We do not believe that North Korea, which has not succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear bombs, has the technology to produce an H-bomb."

Daniel Pinkston, an expert on North Korea's nuclear weapons based Babes-Bolyai University in Romania told The Washington Post, "Do I think they have the capacity to make a hydrogen bomb? I think that's virtually impossible."

Analysts also opined that Kim Jong Un's hydrogen bombs claim seem doubtful since the young North Korean leader seems more concerned with strengthening his regime.

Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies researcher Chang Yong Seok added that the move was probably made to pressure the U.S. into signing a peace treaty.

The hydrogen bombs use fusion that results in a blast that is more powerful than a basic atomic bomb, BBC News noted Thursday.

Should the Supreme Leader's remarks turn out to be true, it would mark a significant progress in North Korea's nuclear capabilities. 

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