Mastering the technology of Nuclear Weapons; North Korea is hitting hard on first world countries

In a major breakthrough, North Korea has shaken the world with testing a nuclear warhead on the top of a rocket and fire it. And it was hard to digest for the first-world countries including United States and Japan.

South Korean experts observed that the nuclear test on Friday had a yield equivalent to 10 kilotons of TNT (Trinitrotoluene), which  would make the latest one North Korea’s most powerful of five nuclear tests till the date.

The blast came just days after North Korea test fired three ballistic missiles which landed in Japan’s Air Defence Identification Zone, about 155  miles from a Japanese Island. Last month, missile fired from a submarine also landed in the same zone.

In October 2006, North Korea conducted the first nuclear test which generated an explosive yield below 1kiloton of TNT.

However, it gradually increased to 2 kilotons in May 2009 and 6 to 7 kilotons of TNT in February 2013. In 2016, North Korea seems to be in more hurry by determining for two nuclear tests. The first nuclear experimenting of this year was in January during which it generated an explosive yield of 4 to 6 Kilotons of TNT.

“North Korea  is determined not only to showcase their ability to cause a nuclear detonation but also to use it without giving a rethink,” said John Delury,  an assistant professor of East Asian Studies at Yonsei University  in South Korea.

“If they have done that or we have a proof that North  Korea has experimented that, then it is a major concern for the region,” said Alexander Neill , a North Korean expert.

But the real threat is that there is no way to determine the potential of North Korea’s missile technology  until  they reveal it.

Serious tension factors

The main factor of concern is that such acts from North Korea would trigger war. “I seriously fear that North Korea will launch an active nuclear weapon on one of their missles and it would be hard for Japan, China and the US to know that it was a test and not the real thing. This situation would be extremely dangerous to trigger a war,” said Melissa Hanham, senior research associate at James Martin Centre for Non Proliferation Studies in Monterey, California.

Quick responses

Reaction was quick and harsh  from across the globe after Friday’s test with the United States, Russia, South Korea and even the border-sharing China, with whom North Korea has a strained diplomatic relationship.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called North Korea’s nuclear experiment  “a significant threat to the safety of our country.”

Cristopher Hill, the former US ambassador to South Korea, said Friday it’s time to stop guessing about North Korea’s capabilities and start planning a response.

“Before long, I think they’re going to have a nuclear warhead on a missile and we have to look really carefully and see what we’re going to do,” said Hill, who was the top U.S. diplomat in Seoul from 2004 to 2005.

Hill said the world can’t expect North Korea to bow to further sanctions or even be open to new negotiations over its nuclear program.

“I wouldn’t make bets on whether Kim Jong Un would be a reasonable guy,” Hill said. “I don’t put it past them to threaten countries and suggest that they will be prepared to launch a nuclear strike.”

China- A big hope to solve

World is looking China to stop aggressive North Korea from further weapon experimentations.  According to Hill, who was also assistant secretary of state for east Asian and Pacific affairs from 2005 to 2009, said that the solution may come in an alliance with China. “I think we need to sit down with the Chinese government delegates and say together we need to solve this,” Hill said of North Korea’s weapons program. “What direct means we can take to either slow it down or kill it?”

Philip Yun, executive director of the Ploughshares Fund, an organization that aims to eliminate nuclear weapons, also said the world cannot delay a response to North Korea’s testing.

“Unless we figure out a way to deal with North Korea and stop their activity, at some point in the near future they’re going to have a relatively sophisticated nuclear arsenal that is capable of hitting the United States and that is a huge problem,” Yun said.