Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said it set off a hydrogen bomb Sunday in its sixth nuclear test, which judging by the earthquake it set off appeared to be its most powerful explosion yet.
On North Korean television, a news reader called the test a complete success and said the two-stage thermonuclear weapon had unprecedented strength. The bomb was designed to be mounted on its newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the DPRK said.
Earlier Sunday, photos released by the Noth Korean (DPRK) government showed Kim Jong Un talking with his lieutenants as he observed a silver, peanut-shaped device that was apparently the purported thermonuclear weapon destined for an ICBM.
The test had registered with international seismic agencies as a man-made earthquake near a test site in the North. Japanese and South Korean officials said it was around 10 times more powerful than the tremor picked up after the DPRK's last nuclear test a year ago.
Hydrogen bombs or H-bombs -- also known as thermonuclear devices -- are far more powerful than the relatively simple atomic weapons the North was believed to have tested so far.
TRUMP SAID 'APPEASEMENT' WON'T WORK AFTER THE TEST
U.S. President Donald Trump declared Sunday that "appeasement with North Korea" will not work, after Pyongyang declared it had successfully tested a missile-ready hydrogen bomb. "North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States," Trump said in messages on Twitter.
The test drew swift international condemnation, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, who described North Korea as a "rogue nation" and said its actions "continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States".
