Kim Jong-un says North Korea has a hydrogen bomb

Ha! That’s pretty much what we just did. The rotund dictator is in the news this morning over his alleged and unsubstantiated claim that North Korea has developed a hydrogen bomb:

North Korea's Kim Jong-un may have mentioned the hydrogen bomb during an arms industry inspection: https://t.co/Vlw8NpE888

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) December 10, 2015

#NorthKorea has developed Hydrogen bombs, Kim Jong-Un confirms https://t.co/q5gERonqws pic.twitter.com/1HDYBHdj8i

— IRIA (@IRIA_Research) December 10, 2015

From South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, which is quoting North Korean state media:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stated that his country has developed not only nuclear weapons but also hydrogen bombs, according to Pyongyang’s state media Thursday.

He made the remark while inspecting a historic site for the communist nation’s arms industry a day earlier, according to reports.

The North has been turned 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” thanks to tireless efforts by his late grandfather Kim Il-sung, founder of the nation, the Korean Central News Agency said in a report on Kim’s “field guidance” at the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site in Pyongyang.

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If true, this would represent a significant advance in the country’s nuclear capabilities. But experts doubt the claim:

North Korean leader Kim's H-bomb claim draws scepticism https://t.co/TilrOdBeR4

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 10, 2015

From Reuters:

“I think it’s unlikely that they have an H-bomb at the moment, but I don’t expect them to keep testing basic devices indefinitely, either,” said Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

It was possible the North was referring to the technology of boosting the yield of a nuclear device, possibly using fusion fuel, Lewis said.

North Korea claimed in 2010 that it had successfully developed fusion technology.

Here’s hoping he’s right.

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