Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials On North Korea's Nuclear Test -- News Updates January 7, 2016

Carole Lee, WSJ: North Korea Bomb Test Challenges U.S. Policy in Asia

Country’s nuclear test raises concerns about Pyongyang’s advances and questions about effectiveness of administration’s stance toward region

North Korea’s fourth nuclear weapons test spread alarm through the U.S. and allied countries, reigniting concerns about Pyongyang’s advancements and thrusting the country back into the diplomatic spotlight.

The Obama administration on Wednesday disputed North Korea’s declaration that it had detonated a hydrogen bomb, a thermonuclear device with far greater destructive power than a conventional atomic bomb. But even if the device is proven smaller than that claimed by North Korea, the test indicates Pyongyang has continued to advance its nuclear program.

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials On North Korea's Nuclear Test -- News Updates January 7, 2016

North Korea 'H-bomb test': What do we know? -- BBC
North Korea nuclear: What now after H-bomb test claim? -- BBC
Did North Korea Really Just Go Thermonuclear? -- Robert Beckhusen, National Interest
What Just Happened in North Korea? -- Amy Davidson, New Yorker
What Is a Hydrogen Bomb and Does North Korea Have One? -- Millie Dent, The Fiscal Times
Did North Korea Really Just Go Thermonuclear? -- Robert Beckhusen, National Interest
Why North Korea can't be dismissed as a wannabe nuclear power -- Peter Grief, CSM
North Korea’s Nuclear Test Isn’t As Dangerous As Kim Jong-un Wants Us to Believe -- Fred Kaplan, Slate
Will we ever know if North Korea detonated an H-Bomb? -- AP
Analysts: North Korea's 'H-Bomb' Gamble Could Backfire -- Joyce Huang, VOA
Pyongyang tests Obama’s weaknesses -- National editorial
North Korea Uses Bomb Test to Boost Dictatorship -- Alastair Gale, WSJ
North Korea bomb claim: What does Kim want? -- Ashley Fantz, CNN
The single most important fact for understanding North Korea -- Max Fisher, VOX
In a dangerous world, North Korea’s latest nuclear test makes a kind of sense -- Aidan Foster-Carter, The Guardian
How the U.S. Should React to Pyongyang's Hydrogen Boast -- Bruce Klingner, Real Clear World
How will U.S., S. Korea respond to North's nuke test? -- CBS/AP
How the US Could Respond to North Korea's Nuclear Test -- Alexander Mallin, ABC News
U.S., Japan, South Korea unites in response to North Korea hydrogen bomb -- Mirren Gidda, Newsweek
North Korea blasts way into U.S. presidential security debate -- Dennis P. Halpin, NK News
North Korea’s Strategy Puts Beijing in a Bind -- Andrew Browne, WSJ
What can China do about nuclear North Korea? -- James Griffiths, CNN
Only China can open the hermit kingdom -- Globe and Mail editorial
The slow death of the nuclear deal with North Korea -- Adam Taylor, Washington Post
North Korea is heading for a cataclysmic collapse — and nobody cares -- Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, The Week
The only woman North Korea trusts to deliver its most important propaganda: Ri Chun-hee – the news anchor Kim Jong-un wheels out when he wants to impress the world -- Daily Mail
Who is the woman behind North Korea's news? -- Juliet Perry, CNN
North Korea’s nuclear test: your questions answered -- Maeve Shearlaw, The Guardian
Factbox: North Korea says successfully conducts first H-bomb test -- Reuters

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials On North Korea's Nuclear Test

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversees a rocket-launching drill in 2014. Photograph: Reuters

Anna Fifield, The Washington Post: Why Is North Korea's Hydrogen Bomb Test Such A Big Deal?

North Korea's claim Wednesday that it had tested a hydrogen bomb alarmed Pyongyang's Asian neighbors -- and the rest of the world. We take a look at what's behind this new North Korean claim.

Is this a big deal? We already knew they had nukes, right?

It's a big deal because a hydrogen, or thermonuclear, bomb is much, much more powerful.

The "Little Boy" atomic bomb that the United States dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 had a yield of 15 kilotons, while the "Fat Man" dropped on Nagasaki a few days later had a yield of 20 kilotons. By comparison, the dry fuel hydrogen bomb that the U.S. tested at Bikini Atoll in 1954 had a yield of 15 megatons - making it more than 1,000 times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb.

Here's how Kim Du-yeon of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace explains it:

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials On North Korea's Nuclear Test

'A grave threat': why North Korea's claimed nuclear test is a cause for concern -- Justin McCurry and Tom Phillips, The Guardian
North Korea Bomb Test Thrusts It Back Into World Spotlight -- WSJ
N. Korea's imprudence -- Korea Times editorial
North Korea Hydrogen-Bomb Test Would Signal Dangerous New Phase -- Jeremy Page, WSJ
Pride and power: North Korea nuke test plays to local as well as global audience -- James Pearson, Reuters
North Korea Blast Revives Question: How Do You Contain Pyongyang? -- NYT
North Korea won't surrender its nuclear weapons – sanctions or no sanctions -- Andrei Lankov, The Guardian
North Korea’s Claim of a Hydrogen Bomb Test -- Matt Ford and Krishnadev Calamur, The Atlantic
So Did North Korea Detonate a Hydrogen Bomb or Not? -- Joshua Keating, Slate
The Political Fallout From North Korea’s ‘Hydrogen Bomb’ Test -- Hannah Beech, Time
China will have to thwart Kim's plans -- Alexander Freund, DW
North Korea nuclear test a "wake-up call" for the world -- James Pearson, Rweuters
Analysis: Calculated Risk Behind N. Korean H-Bomb Test Claim -- AP
North Korea’s Steady Quest for a Bigger Mushroom Cloud -- Mark Thompson, Time
What North Korea’s ‘hydrogen bomb’ means for Asia and the world -- Happymon Jacob, Hindustan Times
North Korea nuclear test: why did Kim Jong-un press the button now? -- Simon Tisdall, The Guardian
Analysis: a cloud hangs over North Korea — but what’s new? -- The Times
The 5 Stages of Reacting to a North Korea Nuke Test -- Josh Rogin, Bloomberg
Nuclear test shows limits of international response -- The Telegraph
How North Korea's nuclear program went from threats to reality -- James Griffiths, CNN
Nuclear Weapons on the Rise Again' - Watchdog on N Korea's Bomb Test -- Sputnik
North Korea nuclear bomb test: 7 key questions answered -- Holly Yan, CNN
North Korea's Hydrogen Bomb Proclamation: 5 Things to Know -- NBC
Timeline: North Korea’s nuclear weapons development -- The Guardian
North Korea 'H-bomb test': What do we know? -- BBC

Some Thoughts On Tonight's North Korean Nuclear Test

WNU Editor: With this North Korean nuclear test .... the Iran - Saudi Arabia war of words is going to take a back seat for the next day or two.

There is still no word from the White House on today's test .... but Asian countries are quickly condemning what has happened.

China is still quiet.

No word from Russia.

I am sceptical that this was a Hydrogen bomb test. I was told a long time ago that only a few people in the world (about 300) understood the physics and engineering required to assemble a Hydrogen bomb. This is in contrast to assembling an atomic bomb,  where there are literally thousands who understand what is necessary to put together such a device .... but are limited by not having the nuclear material to put it together. Does North Korea have the expert(s) to build a Hydrogen bomb .... I doubt it .... and I will not be surprised if in the next few days nuclear experts will be assessing this test in the low kiloton-age range, while also saying that this was not a Hydrogen bomb test.

Will this nuclear test mean more sanctions against North Korea .... the answer is no. Sanctions are already extensive, and the only country that is in a position to influence North Korea is China .... and they have shown more than once in the past their lack of interest to put pressure on the North Korean government.

The UN is meeting on Wednesday to discuss this test. I expect nothing to come out of it.

Japan and South Korea are going to boost their defence budgets, and will be requesting Aegis/Patriot defence platforms.

This nuclear test is going to impact U.S. politics. It feeds into the narrative that the U.S. has lost influence on the world stage. Mind you .... I doubt that anyone in the Western world can influence the "Hermit Kingdom".

Expect stock and money markets to be hit when trading resumes on Wednesday .... U.S. Stock futures fall 1 percent on worrying news on China, North Korea (Reuters).

Update: This is a good read .... The real threat from North Korea is the nuclear arsenal built over the last decade (Siegfried S. Hecker, Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists)