North Korea Claims H-Bomb Test Strongest Yet for Missile That Could Reach U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted his reaction to North Korea's hydrogen bomb test Sunday.

He said the the regime's "words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous" to the U.S. He also called North Korea "a rogue nation."

"The National security team is monitoring this closely. The President and his national security team will have a meeting to discuss further later today. We will provide updates as necessary," said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council set up an emergency meeting for Monday at the request of the U.S., Japan, France, Britain and South Korea. It will be the second time in less than a week that the Security Council holds an urgent session on North Korea's testing of weapons.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Sunday's nuclear test. His spokesman labeled it "profoundly destabilizing for regional security."

Earlier Sunday, Trump had tweeted that he would be meeting with Generals Kelly and Mattis and other national security experts to discuss strategies moving forward.

North Korea's test of its homemade hydrogen bomb Sunday caused seismic activity at the level of a 5.7 level earthquake. 

The communist nation's state-run media called it a "perfect success."

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was on-hand when the H-bomb was loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The North Koreans claim it's the strongest yet with the missile capable of reaching the continental United States.

U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster spoke with South Korea's Chung Eui-young following North Korea's sixth nuclear test. Leaders in both nations are condemning the test as are other world leaders.  

South Korea says it wants to answer North Korea's sixth nuclear test with the strongest measures possible but didn't explain what that means.

Chung said his country "will seek every available diplomatic measure, including new sanctions from the United Nations Security Council."

He says President Moon Jae-in will also discuss with Washington ways to deploy the "strongest strategic assets" the U.S. has to completely isolate Pyongyang.
  
French President Emmanuel Macron is among other world leaders condemning the test "in the strongest possible terms" 
  
Macron said in a written statement he "calls on the members of the United Nations Security Council to quickly react to this new violation by North Korea of international law."

He also called for the European Union to present a "united and clear reaction."

The Russian Foreign Ministry says the reported test "deserves the strongest condemnation."

It's  also urging all parties to not escalate tensions further but rather enter into immediate dialogue and negotiations.

Russian leaders say they are ready to participate in negotiations and want to implement the "Russian-Chinese road map." It is a proposal for North Korea to suspend its test in exchange for the U.S. and South Korea suspending joint military exercises.  

Chinese President Xi Jinping said nothing about the test while speaking at a business forum Sunday that was scheduled ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit. However, China's foreign ministry did condemn it.

The summit of leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is being held Monday and Tuesday in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen.
  
Cheng Xiaohe of Renmin University is an expert on North Korea. He says the latest test means "the Korean Peninsula situation will be at a stage of new crisis."
  
North Korea's nuclear test Sunday was apparently its most powerful yet. The country's state-controlled media say it was a thermonuclear device.
  
CBN News spoke with experts on the topic recently for their take on North Korea's nuclear abilities.

"It isn't ludicrous to think that the North Koreans, even though their economy is one-third the size of Ethiopia, can do this," said Harry Kazianis who heads up the defense studies at The Center for National Interest. 

"If you put in enough money and starve your people you can build things like this," he said. 

Kazianis says Kim claimed to have tested an H-bomb last year, but most experts dismissed that, arguing the North might have had a more powerful atomic bomb.

An atomic bomb was the kind dropped on Japan at the end of the World War II. Experts say a hydrogen bomb uses nuclear fusion and can be far more powerful by a thousand times or more. 

For example, if an H-bomb strikes New York, the death toll could reach over 3.4 million.

Pentagon officials say hydrogen bombs are heavier than a standard atomic device, so Kim would potentially need a more advanced missile than what he has tested so far to carry a larger payload to hit the United States. 

Unfortunately, North Korea seems to be working on such a missile, known as the KN-08, a three stage missile, which some believe might be North Korea's next missile test.

Experts say we cannot continue to deny what North Korea's military machine can accomplish. If we pretend it can't happen, that's not only a bad idea, it's almost a guarantee it will happen.