In a first, NK says it has gone thermonuclear (H-bomb) http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/05/asia/north-korea-seismic-event/index.html I wouldn't say this is a game changer necessarily, but it represents a clear commitment and sophistication. Just because it annoys me, I'm not sure why the article is drawing a distinction between thermonuclear weapons and plutonium weapons, but whatever. They really mean fission devices.
I have my doubts about the actual detonation of a thermonuclear device. I will wait until it is confirmed by outside nations. That said, North Korea scares me like no other state. Yes, we can laugh at things like the GIF above, but it doesn't take a rocket to deliver a nuclear device. And they are crazy enough to use the damn things.
I completely agree on veracity of the claim. If true, the level of sophistication surprises me. I would say either a healthy sized fission device or a thermonuclear fizzle.
reading more of the news, and it only caused a 5.1 seismic event, which is about as big as their last fission detonation. No way they achieved thermonuclear fusion with this bomb. Unless it was a terribly small device. But I am very much a layperson with this type of stuff.
No way China would allow that under any circumstance. Kim Jong, or whatever his name is, would have an unfortunate illness, accident......just death.
The sophistication required seems like a tall order from them. I kinda wonder if they didn't "try" to detonate a thermonuclear device, and ended up with just a fission detonation? But called it "good?"
It wouldn't surprise me if they spiked a fission device with some tritium and called it an H-bomb. Maybe they tried to build a true thermonuclear device, but if so it seems to have been a fizzle (likely, as you say, just primary detonation)
I am inclined with the first part. North Korea and Iran are notorious for exaggerating and flat out making shit up.
