Pyongyang detonates hydrogen bomb in remote northern part of the country

  PYONGYANG – North Korea announced on Sunday that it has successfully conducted a test of hydrogen bomb in Punggye-ri in the northern part of the country. It was North Korea's sixth nuclear test. The explosion triggered a 6.3-magnitude tremor recorded by seismologists around the world. Norsar, a Norwegian nuclear test monitoring group, said the bomb's explosive power was equal to detonating 120,000 tons of TNT but South Korean officials gave a modest estimate of 50 kilotons, according to a CNN report. In comparison, the hydrogen bomb's explosion was many times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945, which created an explosive power of 15 tons. A hydrogen bomb, also known as a thermonuclear bomb, is a much more powerful type of nuclear weapon that uses fusion instead of fission to increase its destructive power. Before the announcement of the nuclear test, North Korea's state media released photos of the country's leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting what it claimed was a nuclear warhead being placed inside a missile. In response to North Korea's nuclear test, South Korea's Army and Air Force conducted a live-fire exercise early today (Monday) off the east coast of South Korea, simulating a strike on North Korea's nuclear test site with surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and F-15K fighter jets hitting targets, a statement from Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. In Washington, there was a flurry of hostile words and threats from officials. US President Donald Trump said North Korea's "words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States." Trump also said North Korea has become a "great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success" and that Washington is considering "stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea." Beijing had been told to tell North Korea, which considers the country as an ally, to toe the line. US Defense Secretary James Mattis, for his part, told journalists that any threat to the US, its allies or its territories "will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming." Mattis pointed out that "Kim Jong Un should take heed of the United Nations Security Council's unified voice." "All members unanimously agreed on the threat North Korea poses and they remain unanimous in their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula ... We are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea, but as I said, we have many options to do so." US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said now is not the time for talks with North Korea and he is drafting "tough sanctions" against Pyongyang following the latest nuclear test. Other world leaders have expressed alarm over North Korea's latest nuclear test. Chinese state media reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping said in an opening ceremony speech of an international financial summit, that "incessant conflicts in some parts of the world and hotspot issues are posing challenges to world peace." Japanese Prime Minister said the threat against his country is now "more grave and imminent" while South Korean President Moon Jae-in called the nuclear test "an absurd strategic mistake." UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Pyongyang's act test was "profoundly destabilizing for regional security," and the Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting to discuss the issue later today (Monday). The council had met last week after North Korea shot a missile that flew over Japan's Hokkaido island. The missile split into three pieces and fell about 1,800 kilometers off Japan's eastern coast. The missile launch triggered sirens across Hokkaido, warning citizens to take shelter. 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