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Tensions between the United States and the DPRK rose significantly after Donald Trump's speech at the UN General Assembly, in which he promised to "destroy the DPRK" if they pose a threat to the United States and allies. In response, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that the response to the US president's statement would be "the most stringent measures." And subsequently, North Korean Foreign Minister Lee Yong-ho shed light on a possible response to Trump - testing a hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb in the Pacific Ocean. About how exactly this bomb will affect the ocean writes The Atlantic (translation - Depo.ua).
What does it mean
North Korea has already conducted nuclear tests in underground mines and launched ballistic missiles. Testing a hydrogen bomb in the ocean could mean that the warhead would be attached to a ballistic missile that would be launched towards the ocean. If the DPRK makes the next test, it will be the first detonation of a nuclear weapon in the atmosphere in nearly 40 years. And, of course, it will significantly affect the environment.
The hydrogen bomb is more powerful than conventional nuclear bombs, since it is capable of generating much more explosive energy.
What exactly will happen
If a hydrogen bomb hits the Pacific Ocean, it will detonate with a blinding flash, and subsequently a mushroom cloud can be observed. If we talk about the consequences - most likely, they will depend on the height of the detonation above the water. The initial explosion can kill most of the life in the detonation zone - many fish and other animals in the ocean will die instantly. When the US dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, the entire population within a radius of 500 meters died.
The explosion will send radioactive particles into the sky and water. The wind will carry them thousands of miles away.
The smoke - and the mushroom cloud itself - will cover the Sun. Due to lack sun rays organisms in the ocean that depend on photosynthesis for their lives will suffer. The radiation will also affect the health of life forms in neighboring seas. Radiation is known to damage human, animal and plant cells, causing changes in their genes. These changes can lead to mutation in future generations. According to experts, eggs and larvae marine organisms are particularly sensitive to radiation.
The test may also have a lengthy Negative influence on people and animals if radiation particles reach the ground.
They can pollute the air, soil and water bodies. More than 60 years after the US tested the series atomic bombs off Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the island remains "uninhabitable", according to a 2014 report by The Guardian. Even before the tests, the inhabitants were resettled, but returned in the 1970s. However, they saw a high level of radiation in the products that grew near the nuclear test zone, and were forced to leave the area again.
Story
More than 2,000 nuclear tests were conducted between 1945 and 1996 different countries, in underground mines and reservoirs. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has been in force since 1996. The United States experienced nuclear missile, according to one of North Korea's deputy foreign ministers, in the Pacific Ocean in 1962. The last ground test with nuclear power took place in China in 1980.
Only in this year North Korea conducted 19 tests ballistic missiles and one nuclear test. Earlier this month, North Korea said it had successfully conducted an underground test of a hydrogen bomb. Because of this, an artificial earthquake occurred near the test site, which was registered by seismic activity stations around the world. A week later, the United Nations adopted a resolution that provides for new sanctions against North Korea.
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North Korea conducted another nuclear test on September 3rd. Now, they claim, the hydrogen bomb has been detonated. On the Far East seismic events were recorded. According to them, experts estimated the power of the charge - from 50 to 100 kilotons. The power of the bombs exploded by the Americans in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 is about 20 kilotons. Then two explosions killed more than 200 thousand people. The Korean bomb is many times more powerful. A few days earlier, North Korea tested its own ballistic missile. This rocket flew 2700 kilometers and fell in the Pacific Ocean. Flew over the Japanese island of Hokkaido.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said they will now fire missiles at a US military base on the island of Guam. And before that, the islands are a little further from Korea - 3300 kilometers. Moreover, some experts claim that this rocket can fly twice as far. According to the map, such a missile can reach the territory of the United States. At least Alaska is already in the affected area.
So, there is a rocket and there is a bomb. This does not mean that the Koreans are ready to launch a nuclear missile strike right now. Nuclear explosive device- it's not a warhead yet. Experts say that it takes several years of work to pair a bomb and a missile. However, it is absolutely clear that this is a solvable task for Korean engineers. The Americans are threatening North Korea with a military strike. Indeed, it seems like a simple solution - to destroy by aircraft launchers, factories for the production of missiles and nuclear weapons. Yes, and the habits of the Americans in this regard are simple. A little something - immediately bomb. Why aren't they bombing now? And they threaten somehow uncertainly. Because from the border separating North and South Korea to the center of Seoul, the capital South Korea, 30 odd kilometers.
Here intercontinental ballistic missiles will not be required. Here you can shoot from howitzers. And Seoul is a city of ten million people. By the way, many Americans live in it. The US and South Korea have extensive business relationships. So in response to the American attack, the North Koreans can attack South Korea, Seoul - in the first place. The North Korean army is a million people. There are four million more in reserve.
Some hotheads say: this is a poor country with a very weak economy. Well, firstly, the economy there is no longer as weak as it was 20 years ago. By indirect signs, there is economic growth. Well, secondly, they were able to make a rocket. They made an atomic bomb and even a hydrogen bomb. You can't underestimate them. Therefore, there are risks big war on the Korean Peninsula. This topic was discussed on September 3 by the leaders of Russia and China. They met in the Chinese city of Xiamen on the eve of the BRICS summit.
“The situation on the Korean Peninsula was discussed in the light of North Korea's hydrogen bomb test. Both Putin and Xi Jinping expressed deep concern over this situation, they noted the importance of preventing chaos on the Korean Peninsula, the importance of all sides showing restraint and focusing on finding a solution only through political and diplomatic ways,” said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian President. .
Whatever Kim Jong-un is, no matter how he behaves, so that we do not think about him, all the same negotiations, the search for a compromise better than war, especially since the instruments of pressure on North Korea stakeholders have enough.
"Today, September 3, at 12:00, North Korean scientists successfully tested a hydrogen warhead designed to equip intercontinental ballistic missiles at the northern range," a North Korean television announcer said.
According to South Korean experts, the power of the bomb detonated in North Korea can reach 100 kilotons, which is about six Hiroshima. The explosion was accompanied by an earthquake 10 times stronger than what happened last year, when Pyongyang conducted the previous nuclear test. The echoes of this earthquake, as it is now clear - man-made, were felt far beyond the borders of the DPRK. Even before Pyongyang's official announcement, seismologists in Vladivostok already knew what had happened. “The coordinates coincide with the nuclear test site,” the seismologist notes.
“In terms of distance, it is approximately 250-300 kilometers from Vladivostok. At the epicenter of the earthquake itself, in all likelihood, there were about seven points. On the border of Primorye, somewhere around five points. In Vladivostok - no more than two or three points," said the seismologist on duty Amed Saiduloev.
Pyongyang confirmed the test report with a photo report on the development of a compact hydrogen warhead. It is argued that the DPRK has enough of its own resources mined in the country to create such warheads. During the work on installing a warhead on a rocket, Kim Jong-un was personally present. Pyongyang sees in nuclear weapons the only guarantee of the country's existence. For more than half a century, North Korea has legally remained in a state of temporarily stopped war, with no guarantees of its non-resumption. That is why any attempt to force the DPRK to give up nuclear program so far only hastened it.
“The fragile armistice agreement of 1953, which still regulates relations between the US and the DPRK, is an anachronism, it does not fulfill its functions, it does not contribute and cannot somehow ensure security, stability on the Korean Peninsula; it needs to be replaced a long time ago,” emphasizes the head of the Department of Korea and Mongolia of the Institute of Oriental Studies Russian Academy Science Alexander Vorontsov.
China and Russia have been insisting for years on the futility of continuing pressure on Pyongyang and on the need to start direct negotiations. Moreover, Washington is being offered real opportunity solution to the problem: not even a suspension, but only a reduction in the scale of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea in exchange for Pyongyang freezing its nuclear missile tests.
“We also talked with John Kerry. They told us the same thing they are now repeating in the Trump administration: this is an unequal offer, because launches, nuclear tests in North Korea are prohibited by the Security Council, and military exercises are an absolutely legitimate thing. But to this we answer: yes, if you rest against such legalistic logic, of course, no one accuses you of violating international law. But if things go to war, then the first step should be taken by the one who is smarter and stronger. And there can be no doubt who in this pair has such qualities. Although, who knows...,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
So, the Americans press hard and senselessly, the Koreans bite the bit and answer, and we are invited to cut this vicious circle with China. Otherwise, war!
“North Korea's provocative behavior could lead to the US intercepting their missiles - shooting them down both in the air and on the ground prior to launching what we call a hot launch. There is both a military method of solution and diplomatic methods - economic pressure, tougher sanctions. After all, there is the decisive role of China and the influence of Russia in the region, they can put pressure on North Korea, ”said retired US Army General Paul Valili.
At the same time, it is absolutely clear today that neither Beijing, nor even more so Moscow, will be able to reason with Pyongyang without removing the main threat, and it comes from the United States, which refuses our proposals to sit down with the Koreans at the negotiating table. At the same time, Trump deliberately continues to escalate the situation. In the context of the beginning economic war With China, it is beneficial for the Americans to keep Beijing in constant tension in the position of the guilty, knowing that the key to solving the problem lies with them - in Washington. However, this cannot continue indefinitely. After all, Korean missiles fly farther each time. Thus, on the one hand, increasing the risk of a fatal accident, on the other hand, pushing Trump to carry out his threats, which is completely impossible.
“China has a mutual defense treaty with North Korea. Thus, Trump does not have any way to influence the military on North Korea, he can neither attack nor use military force, therefore, all this is like an empty shaking of the air, ”says Petr Akopov, deputy editor-in-chief of the Vzglyad.ru portal.
Today's outburst is evidence that the United States, for the first time in a quarter of a century, is faced with a situation where there is no alternative to negotiations. Sooner or later, they will have to agree to the scheme proposed by Moscow and Beijing - the cessation of military exercises and guarantees of non-aggression in exchange for a freeze on Pyongyang's nuclear missile program. The Americans, of course, will not withdraw their troops from South Korea, and the North will remain with its few nuclear charges just in case.
How this will be arranged - we will see in the near future. However, the latest unexpected statement by the President of Kazakhstan about the need to legalize the nuclear status of states that actually have nuclear weapons, and the subsequent invitation of Nazarbayev to Washington, perhaps, is not accidental.
(prototype of a hydrogen bomb) on Eniwetok Atoll (Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean).
A prototype hydrogen bomb, codenamed Ivy Mike, was tested on November 1, 1952. Its power was 10.4 megatons of TNT, which is about 1000 times greater than the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. After the explosion, one of the islands of the atoll on which the charge was placed was completely destroyed, and the crater from the explosion was more than a mile in diameter.
However, the detonated device was not yet a real hydrogen bomb and was not suitable for transportation: it was a complex stationary installation the size of two-storey house and weighing 82 tons. In addition, its design, based on the use of liquid deuterium, turned out to be unpromising and was not used in the future.
The USSR carried out its first thermonuclear explosion on August 12, 1953. In terms of power (about 0.4 megatons), it was significantly inferior to the American one, but the ammunition was transportable and liquid deuterium was not used in it.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
On September 19, Trump, speaking from the UN podium, noted that the United States, "possessing tremendous strength and patience," could "completely destroy" the DPRK. The American president called Kim Jong-un a "rocket man" whose mission is "suicidal for himself and his regime."
The first reaction of the DPRK to these statements was squeamish: the Foreign Ministry compared Trump's promises with the "barking of a dog" that cannot frighten Pyongyang. However, a day later, the official North Korean agency KCNA published Kim Jong-un's commentary on the words of the American president. He described Trump as a "political heretic", "a hooligan and a troublemaker", threatening to wipe out a sovereign state from the face of the earth. American colleague North Korean leader advised "to exercise caution in the choice of words and to be attentive to the statements that one makes in the face of the whole world." Trump, according to Pyongyang, is an "outcast and gangster" who is unsuitable for the country's top command. The leader of the DPRK perceived his speech as a refusal of the United States from peace, called it "the most outrageous declaration of war" and promised to seriously consider "super-tough retaliatory measures." Such measures, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, could be a super-powerful test of a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.
At the end of August, Pyongyang, commenting on the launch of its ballistic missile that flew over Japan for the first time, noted that this was "the first step in the military operation of the Korean People's Army in the Pacific Ocean and a prelude to containing Guam," where US military bases are located.
Pyongyang's threats to test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific came hours after Trump pledged to further tighten sanctions against North Korea. New restrictions by the UN Security Council were introduced only on 11 September. Then world organization limited North Korea's ability to import more than 2 million barrels of petroleum products per year, and imposed an export ban on all of its textile products and work force, which annually brought in at least $ 1.2 billion. The UN also authorized the freezing of goods transported under the North Korean flag in the event that the ship's command refused to inspect.
These measures were unanimously supported by all 15 member countries of the UN Security Council. However, initially the United States demanded more, in particular, insisted on a complete ban on the import of petroleum products and personal sanctions against Kim Jong-un. On September 21, Trump announced that he was expanding his administration's powers to impose sanctions against the DPRK. His decree is aimed at cutting off financial flows that "feed North Korea's efforts" to develop nuclear weapons. In particular, Washington intends to tighten sanctions against individuals, businesses and banks that do business with North Korea, Fox News reports. Separately we are talking about suppliers in the DPRK of technology and information.
The signing of Trump's sanctions order was preceded by his consultations on increasing pressure on the DPRK with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
So far, North Korea has conducted its nuclear tests underground. The last, most powerful, happened on September 3rd. Initially, experts estimated its power at 100–120 kt, which is 5–6 times stronger than the previous one, but later increased their estimates to 250 kt. The magnitude of the explosion, originally estimated at 4.8, was later adjusted to 6.1. These estimates confirmed that the DPRK was able to create a hydrogen bomb, since the yield of a conventional atomic bomb is limited to 30 kt. The successful test of a hydrogen bomb - a missile warhead - was officially announced by Pyongyang.
Even after the underground nuclear test of the DPRK, South Korean observers recorded the release of radioactive gas xenon-133 into the atmosphere, although it was stipulated that its concentration was not hazardous to health and the environment. At the same time, the explosion with a capacity of 250 kt is close to the maximum that the North Korean nuclear test site Pungyo-ri could withstand, experts noted. On satellite images, they recorded landslides and rock subsidence at the sites of underground tests, which could potentially lead to a violation of its integrity and the release of radionuclides to the surface. How many more trials he can endure is unknown.
Until now, the presence of a hydrogen bomb has been officially recognized by five countries with the status of nuclear powers - the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France and China. They are permanent members UN Security Council with veto power. The completion of the development of such weapons in the DPRK is not recognized.
A North Korean official hinted at conducting a nuclear test at sea, which would have serious environmental consequences.
The latest heated exchange of pleasantries between the United States and North Korea has turned into a new threat. On Tuesday, during a speech at the United Nations, President Trump said his government would "completely destroy North Korea" if necessary to protect the United States or its allies. On Friday, Kim Jong-un replied to him, noting that North Korea "will seriously consider the option of appropriate, the most severe countermeasures in history."
The North Korean leader did not specify the nature of these countermeasures, but his foreign minister hinted that North Korea could test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific.
"This could be the most powerful bomb blast in the Pacific," Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters at General Assembly UN in New York. "We have no idea what actions can be taken as the decisions are made by our leader Kim Jong Un."
North Korea has so far conducted nuclear tests underground and in the sky. Testing a hydrogen bomb in the ocean means mounting a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile and delivering it to the sea. If North Korea does this, it will be the first atmospheric detonation of a nuclear weapon in nearly 40 years. This will lead to incalculable geopolitical consequences - and serious environmental impacts.
Hydrogen bombs are much more powerful than atomic bombs, and are capable of producing many times more explosive energy. If such a bomb hits the Pacific Ocean, it will explode with a blinding flash and give rise to a mushroom cloud.
The immediate consequences are likely to depend on the height of the detonation above the water. The initial explosion could wipe out most of the life in the impact zone - lots of fish and other marine life - instantly. When the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, the entire population within 1,600 feet (500 meters) of the epicenter died.
The explosion will fill the air and water with radioactive particles. The wind can carry them hundreds of miles.
Smoke from the explosion site can block sunlight and discourage life in the sea that depends on photosynthesis. Exposure to radiation will cause serious problems for nearby marine life. Radioactivity is known to destroy cells in humans, animals and plants, causing changes in genes. These changes can lead to crippling mutations in future generations. Eggs and larvae of marine organisms are particularly sensitive to radiation, experts say. Affected animals can receive radiation throughout the food chain.
The test could also have devastating and long-term consequences for humans and other animals if the fallout reaches land. Particles can poison air, soil and water. More than 60 years after the US tested a series of atomic bombs near Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the island remains "uninhabitable," according to a 2014 report by The Guardian. Residents who left the islands before the tests and returned in the 1970s found high levels of radiation in food grown near the nuclear test site and were forced to leave again.
Prior to the signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which was signed in 1996, between 1945 and 1996 various countries More than 2,000 nuclear tests have been conducted underground, above ground and under water. The United States tested a nuclear-armed missile similar in description to the one hinted at by a North Korean minister in the Pacific Ocean in 1962. Recent ground tests carried out nuclear power, were organized by China in 1980.
This year alone, North Korea conducted 19 ballistic missile tests and one nuclear test, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative database. Earlier this month, North Korea said it had conducted a successful underground test of a hydrogen bomb. The event resulted in a man-made earthquake near the test site, which was recorded by seismic activity stations around the world. The USGS reported that the quake had a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale. A week later, the United Nations adopted a US-drafted resolution that imposed new sanctions on North Korea because of its nuclear provocations.
Pyongyang's hints of a possible H-bomb test in the Pacific are likely to increase political tension and contribute to an ever-growing debate about the true possibilities of their nuclear program. A hydrogen bomb in the ocean, of course, will put an end to any assumptions.
