The North Koreans send a very strong “back off” message to the USA:
North Korea today detonated a hydrogen bomb sparking a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake amid an ‘escalating’ nuclear crisis.
The terrifying tremor was detected in the northeast of the country where the Punggye-ri test site is located – but was so strong that it shook buildings in China and Russia.
State television claimed the country’s sixth nuclear test – 10 times more powerful than its fifth – was a ‘perfect success’ and could pave the way for a frightening new range of missiles loaded with hydrogen bombs. It added that the underground test – which was directly ordered by leader Kim Jong-un – was a ‘meaningful’ step in completing the country’s nuclear weapons programme.
Following the blast Donald Trump slammed North Korea as a ‘rogue nation’ which is a ‘great threat and embarrassment to China’ – finishing with the thinly-veiled threat: ‘They only understand one thing.’
‘He wrote on Twitter: North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States. North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success. South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!’
This would probably be a very good time to not live anywhere near the East or West Coasts. I’d be astonished if North Korea hasn’t already planted a bomb or two in a Chinese container that is sitting in a US port.
There are no good options here.