Experts warn of potentially dire consequences if Kim Jong Un detonates a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean
North Korea’s latest threat—to detonate a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean—if carried through would mark a new level of defiance in the face of warnings from the U.S. and the international community.
Pyongyang has notched milestone after milestone this year in its quest to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the continental U.S., each time causing a furor and inviting toughly worded responses from President Donald Trump.
In the past month, Pyongyang has launched two missiles over Japan and tested its sixth and most powerful nuclear device, which it described as a hydrogen bomb. That follows the first two successful test-launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.
“Perhaps we might consider a historic aboveground test of a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean,” North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters in New York, in remarks broadcast on a South Korean news channel. He added that he didn’t know for sure what North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was planning.
The latest threat marks an unprecedented escalation by North Korea in the standoff over its weapons program, according to security scholars and regime watchers, who warned of potentially dire consequences.
“If such a test occurred without warning, planes could fall from the sky as their electronics fail. Even satellites in low-Earth orbit could be…