Report: North Korea Moving ICBM to Coast

As you probably know, North Korea may have finally successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb over the weekend.

Many nuclear experts believe that the North Korea could have tested a thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb on Sunday but that it's unlikely they've been able to miniaturize the device to fit on top of one of their ICBMs.

Experts estimated the yield of the bomb at 120 kilotons -- 10 times greater than any of their previous tests. The underground blast caused an initial earthquake of 6.3 on the Richter scale and a subsequent temblor measured at 4.6. The second quake could have been the chamber hollowed out by the stupendous blast collapsing.

But another possibility exists: the device could have been augmented with hydrogen to dramatically boost its yield.

Either way, many experts are doubtful that the North has the technical expertise to construct an ICBM with a nuclear warhead that could successfully reach its target.

Now they're surreptitiously moving an ICBM launcher to the coast, specifically the west coast, though I don't know why they'd move it to the west coast in particular (or any coast, for that matter).

But it's being viewed as another big provocation:

North Korea has reportedly moved an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) towards its west coast, as the US said Pyongyang was "begging" for war.

North Korea had been spotted moving a rocket that appeared to be an ICBM towards its west coast, South Korea's Asia Business Daily, citing an unidentified source, reported on Tuesday.

The rocket started moving on Monday and was spotted moving only at night to avoid surveillance, the report said.

North Korea has promised they have "more gift packages" for the United States, though this refers (it seems) to additional tests and shows of force.

Trump's response is a bit of squib, in my opinion-- just promising to make higher-tech and more powerful weaponry available for purchase by Japan and South Korea.

Amid mounting tension over North Korea aggressiveness, and the US’s bellicose rhetoric and sabre-rattling, Mr Trump said he was ready to increase the amount of military hardware in the region - presumably as a bid to deter Pyongyang.

“I am allowing Japan and South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States,” Mr Trump said on Twitter.

That would take a long time to bear any fruit. I think the only thing that would get North Korea's, and China's, attention is to make nuclear weapons available to those countries.

posted by Ace at 01:33 PM

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