Kim Jong-un has a hydrogen bomb. We know this because the North Korean despot said so. In quotes published by state run media, Kim suggested the regressive nation was "ready to detonate a self-reliant A-Bomb and H-Bomb."
"We managed to become a great nuclear power capable of defending the independence and national dignity of our homeland by mighty nuclear and hydrogen strikes,” he added, RT.com reported.
According to KCNA, Kim made the remarks during a visit to a military site in the capital, Pyongyang, with the development of H-Bomb technology a huge step forward in North Korea’s offensive capabilities.
So an irrational and bellicose dictator is now in charge of a thermonuclear weapon. Unless, of course, he’s lying…
That's the view taken by an unnamed intelligence official who told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, "We don't have any information that North Korea has developed an H-bomb." The source added: "We do not believe that North Korea, which has not succeeded in miniaturising nuclear bombs, has the technology to produce an H-bomb."
Jeffrey Lewis, of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, agreed. He told Reuters: "I think it's unlikely that they have an H-Bomb at the moment. But I don't expect them to keep testing basic devices indefinitely, either."
Putins War Room
(01 of09)
Open Image ModalA meeting on the Russian Air Force operation in Syria held by Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the National Defense Control Center (credit:TASS / Barcroft Media)
(02 of09)
Open Image ModalRussia's President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting on the Russian Air Force operation in Syria at the National Defense Control Center (credit:TASS / Barcroft Media)
(03 of09)
Open Image ModalRussia's President Vladimir Putin and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu seen during a meeting on the Russian Air Force operation in Syria at the National Defense Control Center (credit:TASS / Barcroft Media)
(04 of09)
Open Image ModalRussian President Vladimir Putin, flanked by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov (credit:Alexei Nikolsky/SPUTNIK, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
(05 of09)
Open Image ModalArmy General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Russia's First Deputy Defense Minister, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (credit:TASS / Barcroft Media)
(06 of09)
Open Image ModalRussia's President Vladimir Putin and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu seen during a meeting on the Russian Air Force operation in Syria at the National Defense Control Center (credit:TASS / Barcroft Media)
(07 of09)
Open Image Modal"For Ours" is written on a bomb attached to a Russian war plane in preparation for a combat mission in Syria (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(08 of09)
Open Image ModalA Russian air force technician writes "For Paris" on a bomb attached to a Russian war plane in preparation for a combat mission in Syria (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(09 of09)
Open Image ModalLocal Islamic State group headquarters hit by two cruise missiles during the attack of Russian warplanes in Syria (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)