A hydrogen bomb was claimed to have been tested by North Korea’s Kim Jong-un on Wednesday January 6. The claim is further supported by a detected 5.1 nuclear explosion on the moment magnitude scale, followed by a tremor. The bomb was created to protect North Korea from the U.S. This is North Korea’s fourth nuclear test since 2013 at their underground nuclear test site, Punggye-ri.  

There are doubts as to whether North Korea has actually tested a hydrogen bomb or not. Their doubts come from the fact that a 5.1 nuclear explosion is small for a hydrogen bomb. North Korea’s 2013 nuclear test was very close to a 5.1 nuclear explosion, according to the United States Geographical Survey, yet they didn’t announce that a hydrogen bomb was tested. If it was a hydrogen bomb, it would be higher than a 5.1 nuclear explosion. North Korea makes it hard to believe what is the truth or not. North Korea’s threats of launching nuclear weapons are just bluff based on their past empty threats. North Korea threatened the U.S. with nuclear weapons but did not attack, back in 2013. “I’m not certain if they made a bomb but I think the US officials need to verify if they did,” Minority Achievement Coordinator James Sample said. “I think it’s very dangerous and very alarming, and we need to personally do some things about it. We also need to develop allies, perhaps with the United Nations, to develop sanctions with North Korea.”

North Korea’s nuclear weapons have advanced since their first nuclear test in 2006. In 2006 the power of their tested bomb was less than one kilotonne. Their greatest improvement in developing a bomb was from 2009 to 2013, going from two kilotonnes to seven kilotonnes. North Korea’s jump from two kilotonnes to seven kilotonnes, shows their determination on building a powerful bomb. It looks like every three to four years North Korea conducts a nuclear test. Their next bomb would probably be tested on 2018 or 2019 and who knows if they are able to make another big improvement in building a bomb.

North Korea is not planning to wage war on the U.S. with the bomb. The bomb is more of a safeguard to protect Korea from the United States, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Countries are making weapons to protect themselves, “If you build three rockets I’m going to build four. Countries could say we can defend ourselves, not only are you a nuclear threat but so are we,” Bilingual Resource Assistant Jimmy Carrasquillo said. “Countries that aren’t in the nuclear race feel left behind and they have to figure out how to arm themselves.”