North Korea Claims 5th ‘Successful’ Nuclear Test; Has The Country Miniaturised Nuclear Warheads?

After hours of speculation, following a powerful artificial earthquake today (9 September), the North Korean regime confirmed that the country had conducted a nuclear test. The Korean Central News Agency, a mouthpiece of the regime, said that the country has tested a miniaturised nuclear warhead and is now capable of mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles.

Prior to North Korea’s confirmation, both Japanese and South Korean authorities concluded that the explosion, which caused an artificial earthquake, was the result of a nuclear test. Fifth in a series of tests performed in recent years, the test conducted today was characterised by South Korea as being the “most powerful to date”.

So far, the four other nuclear tests conducted by North Korea have resulted in artificial earthquakes of increasing size. Today’s earthquake followed a similar pattern, registering a magnitude of 5.3.

Commercial satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site had shown significant movement and activity in recent weeks, according to the monitoring site 38North. While the result of the test is largely unknown, Japan’s Defence Ministry is preparing to dispatch aircraft to analyse air samples to see if any radiation could be detected.

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the latest nuclear test “absolutely unacceptable”. “If North Korea conducted a nuclear test, that can never be tolerated. We must lodge a strong protest,” he was quoted as saying.

In view of the sanctions levelled against the repressive regime, the test could have been timed to coincide with U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to China and Southeast Asia. If successful, the test would confirm North Korea’s ability to produce miniaturised nuclear warheads— a technology that Pyongyang is not believed to have.