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[–]pie-man 1648 points1649 points1650 points  (755 children)
I wonder what the mood in South Korea is right now
[–]greatestCs 1215 points1216 points1217 points  (500 children)
According to CNN, there is an emergency meeting in South Korea.
Pentagon is investigating the data, too (according to The Daily Telegraph), as well as Japan military.
EDIT: Sorry, Japan has no military, I didn't cite the article in exact words. Japan 'only' has so-called self-defense forces.
[–]pie-man 481 points482 points483 points  (475 children)
you would think there are contingency plans already in place in preparation for this day
[–]olivepurple 1543 points1544 points1545 points  (97 children)
Today is not "this day"
[–]FindMeTheTruth 64 points65 points66 points  (14 children)
What do we say to nuclear explosions?
[–]Sack_Of_Motors 480 points481 points482 points  (73 children)
Okay Aragorn. Tell me how the foresight of strategic planners failed, of how they forsake (forsook? forsaken?) the wisdom of advanced planning and broke all tenets of sound military strategy.
I'm sorry, I have no clue where I'm going with this.
[–]ass2mouthconnoisseur 680 points681 points682 points  (49 children)
Hold your burgers, hold your fries! Sons of Washington, of Seoul, my brothers!
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the freedom of me. A day may come when the M16s of men fails, when we forsake our capitalism and break all bonds of NATO, but it is not this day. An hour of godless commies and shattered Super Carriers, when the age of Obamacare comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!
BY all that we hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the WEST!!
[–]Not_A_Velociraptor_ 232 points233 points234 points  (11 children)
One nuke to bring them all and in the juche bind them.
[–]bil3777 9 points10 points11 points  (1 child)
Look, is there any cheese this day or not?
[–]e1warmo 26 points27 points28 points  (5 children)
*forshat
[–]foofly 15 points16 points17 points  (3 children)
To foresee a time in the future when one requires to defecate.
[–]FreudJesusGod 146 points147 points148 points  (347 children)
One wonders what "plans" you can have when it's "crazy man has a nuke".
[–]URRongIMRite 284 points285 points286 points  (139 children)
The US has tons of plans. Plans for days. It's just not all of them are very realistic, and some plans require some really hard choices. For instance, going with the first strike plan to take out North Korea before they attack, that guarantees that tens of thousands, maybe more, civilians will die on both sides, and as many or more military personnel on both sides. That's a hard thing to choose when the alternative is do nothing and maybe everyone goes on living because the North might never attack. But if they do attack first, the losses in the South will be even greater and the war will be that much harder. The North also faces this same dilemma, which is why they haven't attacked either. Unlike the South, however, internal problems might one day force them to.
[–]philequal 69 points70 points71 points  (26 children)
There's also the fact that if North Korea is liberated, about 25 million unskilled and poorly educated North Koreans are suddenly going to need assistance. No one wants to take on that burden.
[–]dickbuttzz 59 points60 points61 points  (12 children)
This right here. China and the RoK cannot afford to take on that many people who bring nothing to the table.
No skills, brainwashed, and starved half to death.
[–]kirfkin 15 points16 points17 points  (0 children)
ROK has been putting aside money for it for awhile. Presumably they'll also continue to work in factories and farms as cheap labor, but probably with better overall conditions. ROK and DPRK already sort of have an agreement for that, but I doubt it will be as cheap of labor as it is for them now.
[–]EmergencyChocolate 135 points136 points137 points  (19 children)
just strap some plutonium to Dennis Rodman and call it a day, 2 birds with one stone that way
[–]TheMightyAdzilla 140 points141 points142 points  (10 children)
I suggest we send Seth Rogen, James Franco, and a few band aids coated in ricin.
[–]AgentPaper0 79 points80 points81 points  (24 children)
For instance, going with the first strike plan to take out North Korea before they attack, that guarantees that tens of thousands, maybe more, civilians will die on both sides, and as many or more military personnel on both sides.
Tens of thousands would be a basically bloodless invasion. In reality, you'd be looking at losses in the hundreds of thousands on each side, for both civilians and soldiers. And that's being optimistic. Long term, likely well over a million dead, with ten times that injured, displaced, left homeless, starving, etc.
Declaring war on North Korea will result in far more death and destruction compared to one of their bombs going off in even a fairly populous area. Of course, this way it's them dying and if they bombed us we would be forced to invade to prevent it from happening again regardless, but it is not something to be done lightly to say the very least.
Perhaps, if we could get the South Korea, China, and preferably Japan and the USA to all agree on a plan to deal with North Korea once and for all, then the invasion would be a good idea (though still very bloody). Without that, you have to worry not just about the immediate war but knock-on effects as tensions rise in the area possibly sparking further conflict.
In reality, probably the best case scenario is one where NK doesn't collapse at all, but instead softens into a more modern state that actually serves its people. Becoming more democratic and/or capitalist would be nice, but if they instead changed to look more like China does these days, with Kim still at the head rather than the communist party, that would still be a very good end result, at least in the USA's eyes. Even South Korea might be OK with that, since it would be a step toward reunification, albeit a very small step on a very long road.
[–]VHSRoot 14 points15 points16 points  (8 children)
That's the solution that most of the world powers want, since no wants to pick up the tab of bringing up to date a third world country. German reunification cost around a trillion dollars. I can't imagine what the tab for reuniting the koreas would be.
[–]einstyle 18 points19 points20 points  (3 children)
Anecdotal, but a friend of mine from South Korea told me that a lot of young South Korean people would also prefer the North to be mollified in that way rather than reunified. Her explanation is that her generation has never met the extended family still living in North Korea. They don't have that connection, and so the desire to be truly unified isn't quite the same as with her parents' or her grandparents' generation.
She personally already considers those living in the North to be "foreigners." I don't know how common that sentiment is.
[–]pie-man 51 points52 points53 points  (176 children)
maybe china can talk some sense into kimmie
[–]random_ass_stranger 141 points142 points143 points  (171 children)
They can't; they've tried; they've failed. North Korea doesn't listen to China any more, and there's nothing China or the rest of the world can do about it.
[–]308ball 101 points102 points103 points  (120 children)
Pretty sure both the US and China could execute a successful first strike on the DPRK if they thought Kim was about to do something funny.
[–]phantomfigure 112 points113 points114 points  (54 children)
I would think that within minutes of the DPRK formally attacking another nation - they would be obliterated militarily and that would be the end.
[–]PlusP38 116 points117 points118 points  (24 children)
South Korea would become the island of Korea.
[–]Generalkrunk 90 points91 points92 points  (7 children)
some of south Korea would become the crater of Korea though.
[–]Herman999999999 518 points519 points520 points  (64 children)
I wonder how my neighbor would react if I detonated my first Hydrogen Bomb.
[–]it1345 793 points794 points795 points  (53 children)
you would both be super dead
[–]Herman999999999 335 points336 points337 points  (44 children)
And if I did it at night?
[–]it1345 536 points537 points538 points  (39 children)
you would be dead in the dark
[–]ILoveLamp9 169 points170 points171 points  (31 children)
how would I know it's dark if I'm dead?
[–]muffinman885 309 points310 points311 points  (20 children)
How would you know you're dead if it's dark?
[–]x6r 27 points28 points29 points  (7 children)
Now these... these are the important questions.
[–]throwawayiquit 41 points42 points43 points  (6 children)
If a hydrogen bomb explodes in the middle of the forest and it's dark, am I dead?
[–]Karrion8 37 points38 points39 points  (1 child)
well. there would be a little light right before you died...
edit: it would actually be a substantial amount of light.
[–]trekman3 37 points38 points39 points  (1 child)
I don't know how your neighbor would react, but I'm pretty sure you could tell the IRS to go fuck themselves next time they wanted money.
[–]spectacularspecimen 249 points250 points251 points  (55 children)
Currently in South Korea in a city NW of Seoul very close to the border. People seem to be largely comfortable and apathetic towards the things North Korea does. You rarely hear anyone talk about it in an urgent way and never in a fearful way. Always has surprised me.
I am sure high level diplomatic talks have a much different mood
[–]thesublieutenant 179 points180 points181 points  (12 children)
Well I mean the people of South Korea have probably been through this a million times. Every few months North Korea does something like this, and like every time before it nothing really happens.
It's like the boy who cried wolf, but with nukes and a crazy dictator instead of Timmy the 6 year old.
[–]spectacularspecimen 53 points54 points55 points  (2 children)
ha definitely true, however they haven't tested a nuke a million times. this is only the 4th time. generally though they do something crazy every few months as you said and the people generally brush it off.
[–]IntrinSicks 6 points7 points8 points  (0 children)
i just wish the wild would eat Kim on the third time like the story, I told this story to a kid I was tutoring with behavioral problems, he did not enjoy it
[–]SHIELDagent 23 points24 points25 points  (37 children)
So people are so much used to such stuffs that they're like Meh! ?
[–]spectacularspecimen 40 points41 points42 points  (31 children)
in a way, yeah i think so. SK is generally very engulfed in capitalism and technology so much so that sometimes you feel everyone's head is more into their cell phones than the real world. like others are saying too, they are also very used to things similar to this happening so they are of course a little dismissive
[–]verrukt 23 points24 points25 points  (28 children)
This is a weird question but I've always wondered, what sorts of apps and stuff are Koreans into anyway? I always hear that they are really into tech but never hear WHAT KIND of tech.
[–]The_Real_Mongoose 44 points45 points46 points  (12 children)
We never really give much thought to this stuff. No one outside of the military and other professions that have to deal specifically with this stuff really cares. When they shell an island or blow up a submarine, then we get upset and talk about it for a few weeks, but otherwise we don't give a shit until its election season. However the current president handles it may get brought up in the next election, but it's not something that we'll really pay much attention to at the moment.
[–]rhyme_for_reason 42 points43 points44 points  (6 children)
I live downtown Seoul, and the only people who seem to care are government workers (aw hell more late nights? 아 씨발 야근이다) and people who had stocks in relevant businesses.
[–]tommypatties 20 points21 points22 points  (1 child)
We're still working.
[–]simiain 636 points637 points638 points  (150 children)
Interesting that they didnt let China know about the test beforehand. Speaks volumes about their isolation
[–]Senor_Taco29 417 points418 points419 points  (93 children)
Yes it does, but seemingly in the past few years China has slowly been backing away from NK, I think it started with this newest leader
[–]filler1234 225 points226 points227 points  (80 children)
I get the impression from friends in China that at the very least, the people there are getting sick of their shit. Also, I believe Xi actually worked with the US on developing sanctions on North Korea with their last nuclear test.
Who knows what's going to happen, but I think China is going to be very angry about this, especially considering they weren't notified.
Edit: Clarification
[–]DiscoTut 100 points101 points102 points  (58 children)
WIkileaks actually revealed Xi HATES North Korea and can't wait until the peninsula is under South Korea's control.
[–]deusnefum 98 points99 points100 points  (46 children)
The problem, I think, is no one (not China, not South Korea, not the US, not Japan) wants to be responsible for the people of North Korea. I mean, really, if we toppled the NK regime, what are we going to do with a bunch of under-educated, brainwashed, PTSD people who have essentially no infrastructure.
[–]stonefit 59 points60 points61 points  (19 children)
You mean, all of Manitowoc county?
[–]WhyNotPokeTheBees 70 points71 points72 points  (6 children)
China wants stability. It wants a NK that they don't have to subsidize, and barring that, one that isn't expensive to subsidize. It doesn't want a defective government that can't plan its way out of a bag. It doesn't want a war that will destabilize the regional economy and cause masses of Norks to run for the Chinese Border while China is trying to get ahead on the world stage. It doesn't want US tanks on the Manchurian border either.
NK can't get its shit together economically due to its government, and it preserves itself with militarism that is disadvantageous to China's economic and regional ambitions.
[–]SlothOfDoom 241 points242 points243 points  (26 children)
NK Has never treated China like one would expect them to.
I recall a story of China sending trains of food aid to NK years ago, and a few days later the Chinese crew walked back across the border. When China asked where the trains were NK said "Thanks, we needed those."
[–]WhyYouLetRomneyWin 229 points230 points231 points  (24 children)
Yeah, I remember an article describing this (I think it was in the Economist) and it's one of the funniest pieces of serious journalism I have ever read. It went something like:
China demanded the return of its railcars following their delivery of food aid, but North Korean officials insist the cars were included in the aid package.
[–]Dunder_Chingis 141 points142 points143 points  (20 children)
Holy shit, that is the ultimate case of biting the hand that feeds you. I'm surprised China didn't just cut them off completely after that.
[–]Derp800 51 points52 points53 points  (19 children)
The thing is, as much as China doesn't like NK (and trust me, they aren't exactly friends), they hate the idea of a US ally on their border even more. NK is just a means to an end.
[–]alwayseasy 34 points35 points36 points  (3 children)
And would hate to have to deal with a NK collapse at their border.
[–]Vinny_Cerrato 8 points9 points10 points  (2 children)
The southern border of NK is literally covered with land minds, barbed wire, and other fortifications to keep an advancing army out. The only way for those inevitable starving refugees to go is north into China.
[–]toughtoquit 37 points38 points39 points  (8 children)
I think it has absolutely nothing to do with this. It is simply that China doesn't want millions of NK refugees to deal with. Nothing more, nothing less.
[–]stoic_buffalo 10 points11 points12 points  (5 children)
It's definitely about the refugees. The U.S. is already allies with many of China's neighbors.
[–]3bananasforbreakfast 87 points88 points89 points  (6 children)
NK hasn't let china known about their previous tests beforehand as well. People just read silly garbage media propaganda and think that NK and China are buddies or that NK is china's puppet. When, in fact, china and NK have a bit of an adversarial relationship and NK and China are paranoid about each other.
NK fears being dominated by china and china fears that NK's lunacy will bring destruction to both NK and china. If you were a nation of 20 million bordering a nation of 1.4 billion, wouldn't you be a bit paranoid? If you were bordering a lunatic setting off nukes, wouldn't you be paranoid?
NK is truly as isolated, obstinate and "independent" as any nation could possibly be. They are not really part of any international, economic, military, cultural, trade, etc connection. They are truly a black hole on earth.
China had tried to get north korea to liberalize, modernize and reform their economy, but the north koreans haven't shown any interest in following in china's footsteps. And it isn't china they fuck with. The north koreans shit on the russians, the japanese, the south koreans and of course the US.
[–]Danny41294 900 points901 points902 points  (678 children)
How big of a deal is this really? Should we be worried or does it pose no great threat in reality?
[–]BlackTeaLeaves 1387 points1388 points1389 points  (261 children)
its their first hydrogen bomb.
The last 3 were plutonium
it shows increased complexity and advancement of their capabilities.
[–]RoboNerdOK 836 points837 points838 points  (237 children)
Not really. The seismic record is showing nothing more powerful than the last test. If that was a Teller-Ulam device, it was either a fizzle or on the extreme low end of yield. Furthermore the types and amount of material needed for a thermonuclear bomb poses questions about their claims.
Wait and see.
[–]autojourno 907 points908 points909 points  (112 children)
That's what I'm wondering. The Reddit headline says "North Korean Successful Conducts Hydrogen Bomb Test," but the article it links to says "North Korea Says It Conducted Successful Hydrogen Bomb Test" (emphasis mine).
That "says" is fairly important. I mean, North Korea says a lot of things.
[–]PM_Me_Hillary_Pics 353 points354 points355 points  (77 children)
The 5.1 seismic underground reaction is important in that context.
[–]xkforce 209 points210 points211 points  (50 children)
A 5.1 earthquake is in the 100 kt range which is more typical of a conventional fission weapon. If it was an H-bomb, it wasn't a very efficient one.
[–]Cosmic-Vegeta 132 points133 points134 points  (31 children)
they are probably really low on fissile material so if it is an H-bomb the likely kept it to an absolute minimum possible for the test.
[–]FionnFearghas 104 points105 points106 points  (11 children)
This is under appreciated. It's not like best Korea has tons and tons of the stuff. If they have it, it was likely enough to create an bomb of absolutely minimal yield, a technology demonstration so to say.
[–]bigdaddyk86 7 points8 points9 points  (3 children)
I think this is right. Proof of concept. Then another test later with a higher yield to show that the first wasn't a failure.
[–]Majromax 77 points78 points79 points  (18 children)
That's the scary part of Teller-Ulam designs: they don't need much fissile material to scale.
Basic plutonium fission weapons use the shock waves caused by conventional explosives to compress a plutonium sphere, causing it to reach critical mass and go "boom".
"Boosted" fission weapons compress a hollow plutonium sphere which surrounds tritium. The fission boom causes that small amount of tritium to go boom due to heat and pressure. This doesn't directly increase the yield much, but it does throw off lots of neutrons that cause more plutonium to go boom (and it may also cause surrounding not-critical casings like a U238 shell to undergo fission.)
Teller-Ulam designs add a separate fusion stage, contained in another part of the warhead. This bit is a pure fusion bomb, but it is compressed and heated by the radiation pressure of the (boosted) fission stage. (The math behind this for small, deployable weapons is not simple, which is why the big nations try to prevent states like North Korea from getting their hands on supercomputers.)
This multi-stage design allows for tremendous increases in yield and efficiency, which makes the US and Russian national arsenals possible. Missile warheads simply wouldn't be large enough to deliver superpower-level destruction without the multistage thermonuclear design.
[–]reverseskip 345 points346 points347 points  (14 children)
That's KJU just falling over.
[–]RyuujinZER0 130 points131 points132 points  (9 children)
The reason the quakes seem to get bigger every time is simply because he's eating more and more cheese.
[–]IPCharger 72 points73 points74 points  (3 children)
Well I guess I would get fat too if I didn't have an asshole.
[–]telemachus_sneezed 37 points38 points39 points  (2 children)
Its the same seismic underground reaction as in 2013.
[–]RoboNerdOK 94 points95 points96 points  (20 children)
I'm going off memory here, but I recall the Alaska Cannikin test (around 4-5 MT) registered between magnitude 6.5-6.9. That was the most powerful weapon that the United States ever detonated underground, and one of the better publicly known yields. So that gives us a starting point of data to compare against the latest North Korean test.
The amount of blast energy needed to get into those kinds of seismic levels is many orders of magnitude (no pun intended) greater than what was observed today. Every 1.0x of magnitude represents ~36x the energy**. So this test was a firecracker in comparison to a real monster h-bomb.
A boosted weapon doesn't make sense either, because they require much more maintenance. North Korea isn't exactly brimming over with distributed high tech facilities to continuously service the warheads. So yeah, it's a head scratcher.
**With special tunnels, sites chosen to mask seismic activity, etc., this gets tricky. Geologists know this material far better than I.
[–]Psycho0222 32 points33 points34 points  (5 children)
China's last two underground tests: Jun 8 1996, 80kt magnitude 5.9
Jul 29 1996 5kt magnitude 4.9
1974 India test: 5~8kt magnitude 4.9
[–]gimpwiz 11 points12 points13 points  (3 children)
Wow, 5-8kt seems more of a proof of concept than a real deal "this is what we might use" test.
[–]jvalordv 10 points11 points12 points  (0 children)
It's likely that such a device would be intended as a tactical warhead for use on the battlefield. In China's case, probably against enemy naval forces. Tactical nukes can range from 10-20 tons of yield, like the US' recoil less rifle Davy Crockett to 10s of kilo tons.
[–]Nougat 8 points9 points10 points  (0 children)
That's megatons, slide that decimal point three places to the right for kilotons.
5kt is between one-third and one-fourth of Little Boy (Hiroshima), and one-fourth of Fat Man (Nagasaki). Those two incidents killed at least 129,000 people, possibly as many as 220,000. Even at the population densities of 1945, we could expect a DPRK 5kt bomb to kill 15,000 people.
Something to remember about nuclear weapons: they are instruments of terror. They strike fear into the minds of the people they're pointed at. In order to point such a weapon, you have to be able to successfully deliver it.
DPRK does not want to attack China. They don't have missiles that can get anywhere outside the region. They do have an air force, and short range missiles. They would target ROK (South Korea) and/or Japan. Both of those nations are densely populated.
5kt might be a harbinger of future threats, but it's also a threat all by itself.
[–]avengere 34 points35 points36 points  (8 children)
You can also measure nuclear weapon yields by the reverberations in higher level of earth's atmosphere. The USA used to keep quite a large amount of monitoring weather balloons up to detect ussrs tests back during the cold war. These were one of the things mistaken for ufo's back in the day.
[–]Grammaton485 78 points79 points80 points  (5 children)
These were one of the things mistaken for ufo's back in the day.
Nice try, smoking man.
[–]iamplasma 13 points14 points15 points  (0 children)
I expect that only works for atmospheric tests, though, which nobody (including NK) does any more.
[–]DAEFlair 29 points30 points31 points  (49 children)
Can someone ELI5 their capabilities in terms of US science? Meaning their capabilities before were weaker than what the US dropped on Japan. Now they're at Cold War levels?
Just trying to figure out what year their "science" is at
[–]ordo259 88 points89 points90 points  (41 children)
Their capabilities are about Pre-1945 US bombs.
Above is a fun map on which you can simulate nuclear detonations and see the size of the blast, shock wave, etc.
According to the site, the most powerful nuclear device tested by NK(in 2013) clocked in a 10 kT, whereas Little Boy, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, clocked in a 15 kT.
If you don't know what a kT is, 1 kT is the destructive power of 1000 Tons of TNT, and is the standard unit of measure, along with MT(1,000,000 tons of TNT), for nuclear devices.
[–]GTFErinyes 26 points27 points28 points  (16 children)
That's what makes a successful hydrogen bomb much more of a big deal - it's magnitudes more powerful, as hydrogen bombs are capable of being in the MT range.
NK's weak atomic bombs aren't much - nuclear weapons that can legitimately level an entire city ratchet things up big time.
[–]ordo259 31 points32 points33 points  (11 children)
Thing is, the recent test didn't clock any higher in power, so they're still sitting on the really low end of the spectrum.
[–]NuclearRobotHamster 42 points43 points44 points  (18 children)
The British attempts at a hydrogen bomb were very low yield (in comparison to achievable yields) when we were testing them so why would North Korea need to be different.
The fact that the purpose of us designing and building an H-bomb was to allow us to buy the yanks one is beside the point.
I'm not sure but North Korea may have beaten the UK as the fastest to progress from A-bomb to H-bomb.
[–]TheElderGodsSmile 48 points49 points50 points  (2 children)
To be fair to the Nuclear Weapons Establishment the DPRK had a lot more access to accurate open source information than they did in the 50's.
[–]everyZig 18 points19 points20 points  (0 children)
The UK had a bunch of somewhat unsuccessful tests though, their first successful fusion bomb test was 1.8 MT, which is at least 100x more powerful then yesterdays NK test
[–]PM_Me_Hillary_Pics 56 points57 points58 points  (15 children)
North Korea doesn't mind selling it's technology to other nations.
[–]URRongIMRite 28 points29 points30 points  (13 children)
That's probably the biggest threat out of all of this... unless of course they feel like H-bombs give them enough of an advantage that they feel like kicking off that all out war they're always talking about. A real possibility, but obviously unpredictable.
[–]ShadisII 146 points147 points148 points  (236 children)
It's not something to brush off, but it also isn't the start of World War III
[–]diametric 119 points120 points121 points  (203 children)
but it also isn't the start of World War III
Everyone always says that. In all seriousness, what would start World War III?
[–]Stuhl 976 points977 points978 points  (101 children)
Germany, as usual.
[–]Hesstergon 654 points655 points656 points  (9 children)
As is tradition
[–]quintle 90 points91 points92 points  (6 children)
Traditionnnnnnnnnn tradition
[–]czechthunder 30 points31 points32 points  (3 children)
And how did this tradition start? I'll tell you...
I don't know
[–]Flossterbation 58 points59 points60 points  (24 children)
From what I saw at the top of r/worldnews, Germany is starting to get pissed already.
[–]SickDickPukingShit 69 points70 points71 points  (4 children)
Yeah, but not at other Europeans for once, so...
[–]TheKingPlayah 11 points12 points13 points  (2 children)
A World War III would perhaps require Europeans warring with other parts of the world, though.
[–]veyates 164 points165 points166 points  (59 children)
Sorry to burst your bubble but we are busy beginning a civil war. This time someone else needs to take over.
[–]Aurorious 100 points101 points102 points  (10 children)
Don't worry. Other country's will start taking sides and we'll all get there soon enough.
[–]pointlessvoice 50 points51 points52 points  (7 children)
countries
[–]iammandalore 66 points67 points68 points  (5 children)
And that's how it starts...
[–]1badls2goat_v2 80 points81 points82 points  (4 children)
This time, it's the grammar nazis.
[–]JeffyLikeFlaccid 36 points37 points38 points  (34 children)
Canada or Australia, now's your time to shine.
[–]xinxy 49 points50 points51 points  (27 children)
What's Canada going to start a World War with? Moose cavalry?
[–]JessieGreendog 17 points18 points19 points  (9 children)
Don't ever fuck with the quiet kid. I wouldn't want to fuck with Canada if I were you.
[–]IceWindWolf 26 points27 points28 points  (8 children)
Not so much because of the quiet kid in this case, but because of the gun happy maniac next door who considers canada his hat.
[–]Ivanator2294 48 points49 points50 points  (12 children)
It would probably start off not as WWIII, but some other event that seems fairly small. Like some terrorist attack inciting another invasion of another country by another great power, but then that increases tensions with the neighboring power, etc.
[–]FullMetalBitch 25 points26 points27 points  (8 children)
Russia it is then.
[–]SlowRollingBoil 17 points18 points19 points  (6 children)
Until ISIS stepped in and made the entire world come together over their shared hatred. If you can get the US, UK, Russia, Saudi Arabia and China to all come together over something...
[–]ClavicusNitrus 53 points54 points55 points  (47 children)
North Korea doing the same hydrogen bomb test, but on Seoul. Which would never happen.
[–]DAEFlair 117 points118 points119 points  (42 children)
World war 3 would imply someone coming to NKs aid of significant threat to the rest of the "free" world. There is no nation.
If Nk bombed SK, NK would be gone in 1 week.
[–]OisinKaliszewski 23 points24 points25 points  (9 children)
If the events in Syria and/or Ukraine spill over and the US and Russia fire at each other by "accident"
That's my guess
[–]Maclary 98 points99 points100 points  (40 children)
From Twitter - the yield is estimated to be between 5 and 9 kilotons. The first successful U.S. test of an H-bomb in 1952 had a yield of greater than 10 megatons.
It's still not good, but it's not like they just built the Tsar Bomba.
[–]URRongIMRite 52 points53 points54 points  (10 children)
It's probably a test device, but if it's not, it could be a variable yield warhead, which is what most nukes are these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_yield
Or they could just be purposefully testing a low-yield device in order to keep the nuclear fallout from being detected in the atmosphere by the US and others.
But it's really funny that even in the face of a 4th test, people still pooh-pooh the North Koreans as if they aren't doing what they're clearly doing, as if they're somehow zero threat and only something to be laughed at. If you want to believe random people on twitter, that's your choice.
[–]everyZig 18 points19 points20 points  (3 children)
Or they could just be purposefully testing a low-yield device in order to keep the nuclear fallout from being detected in the atmosphere by the US and others.
They arent keeping this hidden though, every test of theirs is followed by a huge amount of propaganda, usually those atmospheric detections are needed to determine that they are just full of shit and just stacked a HUGE amount of TNT on top of each other (as was suspected for their first <1kt test)
[–]greatestCs 24 points25 points26 points  (13 children)
So it's even weaker than Little Boy (Hirosima), which has 15 kilotons... and Little Boy is not even a hydrogen bomb.
[–]brucethem00se 28 points29 points30 points  (7 children)
You should be worried about proliferation. Do you think N Korea secures their bombs and installs safety measures like the U.S./USSR did during the Cold War?
[–]Saber193 19 points20 points21 points  (1 child)
You're right about proliferation, but it has nothing to do with people stealing stuff from them and everything to do with them selling their nukes willingly to people who we would prefer not have access to such things.
[–]silversnoopy 19 points20 points21 points  (3 children)
You can barely get IN to North Korea without them knowing. Anyone who can get the bomb OUT will know the code.
[–]damontoo 8 points9 points10 points  (1 child)
So NK just sells it to the highest bidder. Then the US is forced to pay them otherwise someone else gets it. If we start bombing them like we have syrian/russian arms convoys China will likely defend NK.
[–]FreudJesusGod 47 points48 points49 points  (50 children)
They have problems designing ballistic missiles that function correctly, even with very small payloads (they've had one successful satellite launch and years of rockets nose-diving into the sea). Without a way to deliver a nuclear payload, they have a very large mining tool.
[–]GosymmetryrtemmysoG 44 points45 points46 points  (21 children)
A cigarette boat and 100 USD in bribes will get you pretty much anywhere in the world.
[–]ctfogo 28 points29 points30 points  (0 children)
Not with the prices of marine gas and the gallons/hr that cigarette boats get.
[–]Loki-L 6 points7 points8 points  (1 child)
You could in theory put one into a container and ship it into any port you want that way. It won't have to actually clear customs to devastate the harbor and the city around it.
There is also the fact that NK has been up to some really crazy stuff like abductions and assassinations abroad. And they supposedly have all sorts of tunnels towards the south.
If they really just wanted to mess with people they could always threaten to just hand a nuke to some jihadists as an alternative delivery method.
[–]heidevolk 21 points22 points23 points  (17 children)
Not to be a war-monger or anything but the longer that there is inaction the more time the NK's have to develop something that actually works :/....
[–]CeasarTheFirst 9 points10 points11 points  (3 children)
NK, as "far behind" as they are to the rest of the world, still have shown that they have a nuclear device and medium-range rockets that can reach South Korea, Japan and and whole lot of other places that no one wants them to. Going to war against NK would put those countries and great risk, especially South Korea which their artillery could reach their capital of Seoul.
There's not much anyone can do no, or could do post-2003. Even China.
[–]OzBeardedDad 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
They've had difficulty with multiple stage missiles that could be used for a long range strike against US interests. Seoul could be hit with very little warning. They could probably even hit a few Japanese cities. The Chinese are also well aware that they could also be targeted. They might be allies right now, but there's a great deal of animosity in NK towards China. If fatty-Kim were in the way out and only had time to screw over one country, he'd probably pick China, even over SK.
[–]kingofthehillpeople 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
I'm more alarmed about this getting into the wrong hands
[–]Velocicrappper 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Kind of what I was thinking. They may be able to detonate a nuclear device, but I have serious doubts they can deliver it anywhere via missile/rocket.
What worries me is NK selling the technology or warheads to somebody who CAN put it in a functioning missile.
[–]Blayblee 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I was just about to ask about this, perhaps you can enlighten me.
Given that the general consensus, last time there was a big hoo-haa about their 'missiles' being paraded through the streets, was that they had essentially given a paint job to last years 'missiles' to make it look like they had more, which in any case were such crude mock-ups that they couldn't even be used for training (unless it was, like, training to re-enact the ending from Dr. Strangelove), what kind of delivery system would turn this into a threat? Because at the moment I'm just imagining some NK privates driving a truck up to the SK border with a huge canvas tarp covering a giant, beeping sphere and then legging back up the road laughing, like an ultimate ding-dong-ditch.
Also, aren't nukes harder to build than the ballistic missiles capable of carrying them? I get that it's scary for someone to have a nuke so they want to build that first, but if you just have to leave it lying around while you strap boosters to a stomp-rocket, isn't there the risk that a foreign agent could come in and diddle with the doodads and snip the bomb's red wire (as you can see my sciencing game is on-point) before you get a chance to strap it to the end of a zoomey-boomey that actually stands a chance of making it out of the playground?
[–]pogrmman 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
They do have some short range missiles that are reliable (they are reverse engineered Scuds from the USSR that have been modified to increase their payload and range). Not ICBM's, but if they had a small enough nuke they could certainly hit South Korea and maybe hit Japan with a good degree of reliability.
[–]AlphaAgain 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I'm always curious about this.
Why is this so difficult?
Rocketry isn't really that complex. Obviously guidance and things like that are, but launching a rocket toward a large landmass target should be on literally any national capability, should it not?
Shit, I can go to the store tonight and buy dozens of cardboard rockets that will get some serious altitude.
Doesn't it just scale up?
[–]Nonanal -1 points0 points1 point  (2 children)
I would simply export it to an American port via cargo container. Perhaps several devices, (each up to say 100 megaton hydrogen boosted, salted with cobalt 60 jackets. They will be gigantic but since theyre not flying it doesnt matter.) each sent to a different American port, and then detonated. This would effectively wipe America out and be untracable initially so revenge strikes unlikely. The cobalt would render America uninhabitable for around a hundred years or so.
Or rather than detonating the devices, hold America ransom. Demand anything from full capitulation down to regular shipments of goods.
This is probably the best and easiest way for NK to not just nuke America but win such a confrontation.
Thats why dictators want nukes. They are great levellers. Not only is NK immmune to American invasion, it can even bring the fight to the American mainland and even win without ICBMs
[–]ClassyTurtles -1 points0 points1 point  (1 child)
Aren't all cargo imports checked for illegal or dangerous substances? Either way, North Korea would have to rely on an outside source to ship the containers. Nobody is going to be willing to help them, especially if it's against the US.
[–]Nonanal -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
Checked in port. By then it'll be too late.
NK actually has trade with the USA directly. They'd use their own ships of course.
Maybe build a 100 megaton fusion device into the hull, salted with Cobalt 60 to RUIN the area its detonated in. Even drawing close to the port would be enough to hold the port city hostage.
Remember that Nicolas Cage movie about where he has the ability to foretell the future and uses his ability to thwart a nuke in container plot? Only in real life there wouldn't be any Cage to stop it.
[–]diringe 2 points3 points4 points  (2 children)
It's a huge deal if these fall in the wrong hands. All it takes is one fuckhead with nothing to lose to make Fallout a reality.
[–]Artystrong1 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Great.. And if that happens I'll be stuck listing to the ink spots on repeat when scavenging
[–]Nonanal 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
It wont be like fallout. More like Metro 2033. The first one.
[–]woman_president 1 point2 points3 points  (8 children)
They spend something like 15-16% of their GDP on military expenses, they're also surrounded by the comparatively wealthier/stronger countries of; SK, China, Japan, India.
Basically, they can wave a bigger dick now I suppose. But if they ever tried to escalate nuclear war they would get schlonged back to the dark age.
[–]b0ners4u[S] 6 points7 points8 points  (15 children)
This would be their 4th successful nuclear test. Could just be a bargaining chip for additional aid and remove sanctions. US equity futures are down 1.5% as we speak so its pretty big
[–]Donald_Keyman 9 points10 points11 points  (7 children)
It's a zero threat to America and most of the top nations as long as their missile technology is poor, but it could pose a very serious threat to South Korea and a nuclear weapon in the hands of a madman is always bad.
[–]Biochemicallynodiff 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Nah. They'll probably just hold their own people hostage with the nuclear weapons they have. Then point the finger at the greater powers saying "Look at them, how they allow us to be treated under an atomic threat! Always worried about themselves!"
[–]heisgone 1 point2 points3 points  (3 children)
Why equity would be down?
[–]scotchburg 1 point2 points3 points  (2 children)
It wouldn't that much on behalf of this, I think OP is WAY overstating the importance of this. Recall futures are a dynamic, international market, with lots of factors, shifts happen all the time.
[–]silversnoopy 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
If this were big futures would be moving more than 1.5% please stop spreading misinformation
[–]PCToTheMax 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
They have too many nuclear states against them, even China, to think about using these for harm. It really is a bargaining chip, why else would they have developed a nuclear plant in the first place other than to get a bigger voice? However I did not know that this makes their 4th succesful launch, and considering that the Kim family is unpredictable, hopefully containment and engagement works out for the best. I hope direct rollback doesn't become a thing.
[–]Alainkid 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Somewhere between average day and finding a bomb shelter to live in for the rest of your natural life.
I'm sure all of those doomsday preppers are incredibly happy reading this.
[–]luigivampa-over9000 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
If you look at the original atomic bombs vs. the hydrogen bombs- in terms of destructive capabilities- you'd understand why this is kinda a big deal.
Instead of kilotons of TNT think megatons.
When you think that NK is so close to the SK capital- this is a little unnerving.
They have enough artillery pointed at Seoul to flatten it. And you can easily put mini nukes into artillery.
[–]duffmanhb 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
It's strategic. They do these tests to show that they are improving, and that the West needs to continue sending aid and never think about attacking them. It's a defensive measure more than anything. It's how Un holds his power.
[–]darexinfinity 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Until there's confirmation by another country, none. This isn't the first time NK has made false claims. Kim Jong Un probably was just pissed that he hasn't seen his name in the news lately.
[–]CallMeTek 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
In a sense, it's not a big deal. Given the magnitude, it almost certainly is not a hydrogen bomb. It isn't even clear it's a successful fission bomb test, more likely another failure like the last tests were. On top of that, they don't have much of a way to deliver the payload.
In another sense however, it's huge. Even if the bomb was another fizzle, it potentially says a lot about the state of mind of North Korean leadership. It's always tricky to read the North Koreans, what their intentions are, what the internal power struggles are like, etc. Even if the test was a failure, the fact they attempted the test can say a lot.
[–]AussieScouse 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
The media will blow this out of proportion, fishing for views m8!
But no. The U.S and South Korea have advance anti-nuclear missile systems that technologically surpass that of the North Koreans nuclear armoury.
[–]YourCurvyGirlfriend 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
At what point, when things like this continue to happen, do we stop saying "how big of a deal is this, really?"
[–]redshift83 341 points342 points343 points  (28 children)
There's no evidence as yet that they've successfully tested a hyrdogen bomb. It seems pretty clear they tested a nuclear device. Whether it represents better technology or just larger payload is unclear at this stage.
[–]68686987698 339 points340 points341 points  (12 children)
Article: "N Korea says it..."
Reddit: "N Korea successfully..."
Lol.
[–]alaskafish 183 points184 points185 points  (8 children)
Buzzfeed: "N Korea will destroy these 11 countries! Number 10 will blow your mind!"
[–]Chempy 17 points18 points19 points  (4 children)
CNN: "N Korea threatens to send hydrogen bombs to the west. US first on their list"
[–]smashingpoppycock 39 points40 points41 points  (3 children)
Fox News: "Chinese terrorists detonate nuclear bomb -- Is Obama Chinese?"
[–]elesdee 3 points4 points5 points  (2 children)
Donald Trump: If I were president I would build a dome over SK
[–]grabberbottom 3 points4 points5 points  (1 child)
Ben Carson: "I have a theory that Moses built the Ryugyong Hotel to store rice."
[–]alaskafish 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Ben Carson: "If I had a time machine, I'd go back in time before the Korea war and give all the South Korean's Guns and then there wouldn't be any North Korea
FTFY
[–]SpaceMayka 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
This is so spot on. Before googling, I couldn't tell if it was a joke or not
[–]doobyrocks 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
My mind is a country?
[–]JordHardwell -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
What if I don't live in number ten? I can't imagine that would blow my mind
[–]profmonocle 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
It's not just Reddit. CNN's headline last night was "N. KOREA TESTS H-BOMB". Took a couple hours for them to clarify that it's just an unverified claim.
[–]jkSam 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Reality: "N Korea successfully says..."
[–]chisleu -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
Why is this thread 7-8 down the list? :(
[–]subdolous 30 points31 points32 points  (7 children)
Correct. Yet the mods on duty decide to let this headline persist.
[–]filler1234 11 points12 points13 points  (1 child)
According to the article at least, North Korea's Central Propaganda Network at least said it was a Hydrogen bomb.
Whether they were lying or not, we'll have to wait and see, but there is at least reason to suspect it.
Perhaps a better headline would include, "North Korea Central News Agency Claimed" or something to that effect.
[–]Cock_unblocker 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
North Korea says a lot of crazy shit, like their leader invented cheeseburgers. I would take it with a grain of salt
[–]DimeShake 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
Mods can't edit titles - their only option is to delete a post, or mark it with some kind of flair (misleading, etc). Once a post has gathered a shitload of attention, removing it leads to a shitstorm of backlash unless there's really good reason. A bad title is usually not enough to warrant dealing with that.
[–]subdolous 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
That's a fair assessment.
[–]Roastmasters 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
You try modding a default :/
[–]kmbdbob 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Yeah.. there are so many resons to delete this submission. This is a local happening why is this is worldnews? /s
[–]flimflam2020 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
Source for no evidence?
[–]ChunkyTruffleButter 3 points4 points5 points  (3 children)
So technically, until its verified, their nuclear testing facility could have just blown up.
[–]redshift83 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
a hydrogen bomb has two stages. Its possible only the initial stage succesfully detonated and the second stage fizzled.
[–]Nowin 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Or Jong-un farted. He does eat a lot of cheese, after all.
[–]kevkev667 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Theres a difference between a fission bomb and an H bomb.
This was not an H bomb.
[–]KingOfTheNorthPole[🍰] 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Most likely this is a boosted fusion weapon rather than a true Teller-Ulam type hydrogen bomb.
[–]Chonfecucl 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
You'd probably still die if it hit you though.
[–]notimetoexplainrun 3044 points3045 points3046 points  (167 children)
Here's what will happen:
  1. North Korea tests new bomb.
  2. UN puts new sanctions on North Korea.
  3. North Korea makes more empty threats.
  4. Kim Jong Un eats more cheese.
Edit: formatting things.
[–]the-d-man 481 points482 points483 points  (28 children)
Hijacking the top comment to bring attention to /r/NorthKoreaNews
We are a serious sub reddit that keeps an eye on NK headlines. If you are interested in a joke free/meme free place to talk about this, come on over. We have a sticky thread going as well.
[–]NorthernMonkeyKing 90 points91 points92 points  (18 children)
Good luck modding the place after it's inundated with memes.
[–]the-d-man 264 points265 points266 points  (14 children)
2 years in and we're doing just fine
[–]NorthernMonkeyKing 75 points76 points77 points  (5 children)
Good to hear, here's hoping it remains a sensible, non-maymay zone.
The constant jokes & CJs do get tiring.
[–]FrOzenOrange1414 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
I've been visiting there for a year or so, they're really good about keeping jokes and memes out.
[–]Why_are_you_so_dumb_ 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
All we had to do was follow the damn train, CJ.
[–]NorthernMonkeyKing [score hidden]  (0 children)
Fuck you Big Smoke, busta-ass bitch.
[–]SoloWing1 -2 points-1 points0 points  (1 child)
That is what /r/pyongyang is for... I think.
[–]nipzx 5 points6 points7 points  (0 children)
You have been banned from r/Pyongyang
[–]KudzuKilla 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
yall do a good job, been subed there for like a year. Wish it was a little more active but atleast im getting some news and not just the bullshit kim jong said somthing bad about america news.
[–]bad_wolf1 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
You d-man!
[–]D_Man10579 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
Why hello d-man
[–]the-d-man 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Hello to you too
[–]usfdude223 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Challenge accepted.
[–]Blindweaponsfumbler -4 points-3 points-2 points  (1 child)
Honest question how many /r/pingpong jokes do you get a day?
[–]Daven2ude 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Other /r/northkorea news mod here. Very few, surprisingly.
[–]5s8k6w1z5n8p0r4w2d7j -7 points-6 points-5 points  (0 children)
Le meme party is coming
[–]ExoticCarMan 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
Relevant username?
[–]NorthernMonkeyKing -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
... no? What made you think so?
[–]UsernameNeo 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Subscribed, thanks!
[–]engeleh 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
It would be nice if all news threads were devoid of the stupid memes. Thanks.
[–]Qeldroma311 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Am I on a list somewhere now that I just subbed?
[–]the-idealist [score hidden]  (1 child)
Does really northkorea needs a news subredit? Are you for real? Have you ever seen any one taking seriously what KJU does?
[–]the-d-man [score hidden]  (0 children)
We have nearly 30 thousand answers to that question subscribed to our sub
[–]jaywalker32 -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
/r/PyongYang was already doing that. They've got twice the subscribers and has been around for twice as long.
[–]virak_john -1 points0 points1 point  (1 child)
Isn't there already r/pyongyang for that?
[–]_disposable -6 points-5 points-4 points  (0 children)
yeah he just wants his own piss poor subreddit so he can be it's own moderator
[–]TheElderGodsSmile 1076 points1077 points1078 points  (61 children)
More like:
3: North Korea makes bellicose threats in response to sanctions and demands compensation of some form.
4: The international community appeases the crazy nuclear toddler and sends them copious amounts of food aid.
5: Best korea wins by throwing a tantrum again.
6: Profit?
[–]lituus 717 points718 points719 points  (37 children)
You seem to have left out the part about the cheese
[–]General_Kony 405 points406 points407 points  (23 children)
7.) use profits from 6.) to buy additional cheese
[–]cb2 263 points264 points265 points  (17 children)
8.) Anonymous threatens to take away cheese
[–]TheGreatMightyBob 152 points153 points154 points  (15 children)
9.) Find the hacker known as 4chan-anonymouse and unhack yourself using secret visual basic tools.
[–]rockymountaineer1 55 points56 points57 points  (11 children)
10.) Oh no I am become dee dawse from leet haxxor!
11.) Ne1 know how to stop a total n00b feget from dee dawse me? I can't even entornit!
[–]Austiz 25 points26 points27 points  (3 children)
These replies are so dank
[–]2l84aa 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
12) Seismologist don't know what people are talking about. Proceed to inform the world that it was just a natural earthquake.
[–]JwA624 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Thank
[–]packetmon [score hidden]  (0 children)
They are the bomb.
[–]CaptainRandus 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
12) The interview 2 comes out
[–]homeyG75 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
Bringing back l33t sp33k
[–]rockymountaineer1 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
|=46 |0|
[–]llxGRIMxll 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Mmhm mmm yup... That line equals 46 and a hollowed out tree trunk. Got it.
[–]UmerK1000 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
There is a simple fix! Just delete your system 32
[–]kageteishu 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
My eyes!
[–]rockymountaineer1 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I see you weren't 14 in 2004 ;)
[–]0b01010001 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
10. Laugh hysterically as the visual basic program accidentally creates an infinite loop by jumping from line 80 to line 40.
[–]socks 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
11.) Or even hack with FORTRAN
DO n index variable = start, end, step
statements
n CONTINUE
[–]Richard_Bastion 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
Explain how
[–]methshin 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Don't buy cheese, buy nuclear material. Get given cheese.
Haven't you been paying attention?
[–]XA36 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
There is a direct correlation between N Korea's gdp and Kim Jong Un's gut circumference.
[–]HenryKushinger 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Wait, scratch that. Cheese for no one.
...is Sheogorath the patron deity of North Korea?
[–]Splatterh0use 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
disregard hydrogen, acquire cheese.
[–]Foghorn225 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL CHEESE FACTORIES!
[–]Immortan_schmo 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
CHEESE, FOR EVERYONE!
[–]itsaride 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
Emmental my dear Watson.
[–]Immortan_schmo 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
ALRIGHT, CHEESE FOR NO ONE. WHICH COULD BE JUST AS MUCH A CELEBRATION IF YOU DON'T LIKE CHEESE!
[–]taimakaisha 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
And Bellicose has been been dead for years.
[–]recovering_pessimist 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
It was sent in with the food aid
[–]stonefit 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
23.) Yah breakin' mah baws, Hans Brix!
[–]MulderD 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
No, he mentioned the food aid.
[–]kamicom 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
It's the only time I'm rooting for obesity.
[–]Romanulus -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
This guy gets it.
[–]Fake_William_Shatner 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
All food aide sent to them, at least dairy, will be formed into a huge, nearly anatomically correct likeness of Kim Jong Un. Then he and party guests will have a fun night trying to eat their way out from the inside.
Meanwhile peasants starve while being told that the rest of the world is trying to destroy them, and only Kim's awesomeness protects them. He belches and 11 scribes write it into poetry. The twelfth scribe of course, is summarily executed for not being poetic enough -- as a motivation to the others. The next poet is drug in, screaming, as he is volunteered for the honor.
[–]redditpentester 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
This is correct. People are trying too hard to be funny about this but it's actually pretty historically uninteresting because this is how North Korea is even afloat as a nation. They're not just fucking around or "eating cheese". They're trying to scare people and it always works. It's not empty threats, you'd have to be very naive to think that nations just blindly threaten one another. It probably just means that you don't know why they're doing it.
But it's reddit, everyone is trying to start their stand-up comedy career in the comments. This is negotiating with terrorists and it always has been with North Korea. It's not like it needs a change.org petition but they're not just some punchline either. And there's a chance that if you're going out of your way to make N. Korea sound like a joke or an infant, you don't have a slightest idea as to what you're talking about and probably don't think about politics very often, in general. You don't become a nation with nuclear weapons if you're actually a joke but privileged people don't seem to understand that.
They don't even have to bomb someone. All they have to do is threaten to sell a bomb to ISIS or Syria. Don't people get that? I guess not.
[–]TheElderGodsSmile [score hidden]  (0 children)
Nope but the general public doesn't like to think about these things like you or I do. We live in a scary would full of rational and not so rational actors where geopolitics is driven by perception and interests instead of ideals.
That sort of paradigm doesn't appeal to the masses who like simple answers for simple problems. The problem with that is that there are no simple problems in international realations, only wicked ones and many of those have no solution.
[–]nayvhanfk 0 points1 point2 points  (8 children)
This hackneyed claim that they use shows of military capacity as a bargaining chip for food aid goes against logic and has no bearing in reality. Foreign organizations that do provide aid have on several occasions have threatened to cancel or have actually cancelled planned aid when North Korea conducted weapons tests.
[–]TheElderGodsSmile 22 points23 points24 points  (6 children)
North Korean brinksmanship in diplomatic negitiation is actually well documented. Whilst food aid might not be the goal in this particular case it certainly was whilst the famine was in effect.
They'll use this as leverage to get something, they always do.
[–]311polo 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
This. The motivation for more aid is always behind North Korea's belligerent activities.
[–]ROBOKUT -3 points-2 points-1 points  (4 children)
So basically he's honey dicking them?
[–]Forever_Awkward 2 points3 points4 points  (3 children)
No. That's not how that term works. Stop trying to force reference jokes just because they're relevant.
[–]Paddy_Tanninger 4 points5 points6 points  (2 children)
Nice. Fuckin honey dicked the shit out of that idiot.
[–]mkrfctr 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
Instructions unclear. Dick stuck in bee hive.
[–]llxGRIMxll 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
1 easy step to a gigantic, voluptuous, full bodied penis. dick doctors hate him!
[–]TempusVenisse 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Nice try, Kim.
[–]w-alien 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
  1. Throwfit
  2. Profit
[–]ChorneyMedved 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Not many other options.
[–]pok3_smot 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Maybe the UN will give them more food aid, but americas cut that off completely since the first atomic test.
[–]Decon87 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
Is there a reason we shouldn't be sending them food aid though? I don't think the people should suffer because of their batshit crazy leader. And while I'm sure many of the people are brainwashed enough that they'd see any American dead in a heartbeat, they aren't actively pursuing that since they have no means to leave their country(unlike ISIS) and they have no say in how Kim Jong Un decides to use their nuclear weapons.
[–]TeaChugger 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Most people don't believe all the propaganda, I think we're just sort of waiting for NK to bring their own government down while making sure they have food on the table.
[–]TheElderGodsSmile [score hidden]  (0 children)
Mostly because the DPRK regime is fully capable of crippling the global economy and killing millions of people if pushed. A war or state collapse would also flood China and the RoK with millions of refugees which would also be economically disasterous.
They act like they are just crazy enough to do the former (we don't really know) and authoritian regimes are always brittle enough that the latter is real a possibility.
So the Chinese in particular and the South Koreans to a certain extent prop them up because the Kim's are holding a whole country hostage and they don't want to kill the hostage if they don't have to.
[–]meatcheeseandbun -1 points0 points1 point  (1 child)
Can you imagine what would happen if Iran did this? And to think that NK will get exactly what they want out of this is crazy.
[–]TheElderGodsSmile 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Iran did do something similar, what do you think the hostage crisis was about?
The difference is that these days Iran is a much more responsible and capable actor than the DPRK. They are also a lot less isolated diplomatically. Where as the only people who actually help the hermit kingdom are the PRC and they do so unwillingly because the Koreans have them over a barrel as well.
[–]Popcom -1 points0 points1 point  (1 child)
Oh yes, time to make this ludicrous claim for imaginary internet points from uninformed people again.
[–]TheElderGodsSmile [score hidden]  (0 children)
It's neither ludicrous or imaginary. As I explained before Instances of North Korea taking provocative action, then demanding unilateral concession in order to come to the negotiating table in order to discuss said acts are well documented.
[–]czhunc 108 points109 points110 points  (28 children)
Kim Jong Un eats more cheese.
[–]ItsPronouncedBouquet 59 points60 points61 points  (9 children)
Gout is an affliction acceptable in the very highest circles. It comes from an excess of good living. Gout is practically of pedigree.
[–]NerdCrush 8 points9 points10 points  (6 children)
Or fat.
I got it because fat and poor. Hurts like a bitch.
[–]arcticblue 1 point2 points3 points  (5 children)
Same here. I lived in Japan for 10 years and the doctors warned me I might be at risk for it. I move back to the US late last year and in 2 months I'm in the ER at 5am just begging them to chop off my toe or whatever they needed to do. It was terrible.
[–]JimmyRUDEjam 0 points1 point2 points  (4 children)
What did you do to fix it? I had a friend who had it, he drank and ate too much, from what I understand if he reduced or stopped drinking and ate better he'd have been OK.
[–]arcticblue 1 point2 points3 points  (3 children)
It only recovered to like 99% (it's been about 3 weeks now). I can still feel it, but it's just slightly uncomfortable and not "oh my god just chop off my foot" painful. If I go for a run, it might be a little painful. Basically, I stopped drinking beer and started drinking a lot more water. I never even really drank that much beer to begin with though...I just moved in to my first house here in the US, bought a case of Corona to celebrate and had maybe 2 or 3 here and there and then it felt like someone was jamming old rusty nails in to the join on my toe and through my foot a week before Christmas. There's more than just beer too though...smoked meats and cabbage are on the list of foods to avoid. Really though, aside from beer, I haven't really put much effort in to avoiding certain foods or drinks. I figure drinking a ton of water and losing some weight will probably help the most so I started a sort of ketogenic diet and so far so good. Everyone is different and will react to certain foods differently though. For me, I'm pretty sure it was the Corona that did me in.
[–]fioradapegasusknight 3 points4 points5 points  (1 child)
I AM NOT A DOCTOR.
Be careful on the keto. Weight flies off, and if you lose weight too fast, you can get a gout attack. Apparently excess lactic acid makes it even harder for your body to get rid of uric acid. This happened to me the first time I did keto, but the pain was so intense I thought it was a stress fracture from working out.
The second time I got into keto, I did more research and took potassium citrate supplements to help with my electrolyte balance. Apparently it's supposed to also help with kidney stones and uric acid, but I never could find a source that was definitive enough for me to be completely convinced. No doctor I talked to was willing to give me a hard yes or no about it either. All I know is I've been free of flareups for years now.
[–]arcticblue 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Yeah, I'm not too hard core in to the keto thing; I just look at it for ways to cut carbs where I can. This is maybe the 3rd time I've done this and it works well for me. Since I got to the US, I was eating a bit unhealthy until I finally moved in to my own place and I need to lose the weight I gained. I appreciate the heads up though and I will definitely look in to those supplements. From what I was reading, it's the uric acid that can bring out gout attacks (high uric acid is what the doctors in Japan told me try to get under control after the yearly physicals...and I had it under control for the last couple years until I came back to the US) so anything that helps lower that is definitely something I'm interested in.
[–]Thefriendlyfaceplant 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Can recommend ginger. Anti inflammatory.
[–]Tugurce 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Nice username - tagged you as "Our Hyacinth"
[–]ODzyns 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Often called Rich man's disease. At least here anyway.
[–]Blayblee 6 points7 points8 points  (2 children)
He was educated in Switzerland, home of Raclette which is literally just melting a wheel of cheese onto your plate for dinner, and cheese is actual 'dairy crack' that releases opiates when eaten (so more like diaroin, get your shit together real-life scientist Dr Neal Barnard). And who is going to tell that fat little toddler-tyrant that he's gone Emmental and needs to stop cramming his gob with fistfuls of God's gift to fondue like some kind of Winnie the Pol Pot? Can you imagine that portly prick on a vicious Camembert-comedown? No please, give him the cheese. Hope he chokes on some Cheddar.
[–]PeeWeePangolin 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Why do these pictures look as if they were pulled straight from an edition of Life Magazine circa 1989?
There's bizarre anachronism going on with these pics and the posters language that I find somewhat amusing and refreshing.
Here's a Salvadoran Petacón Cheese upvote.
[–]KungFuHamster [score hidden]  (0 children)
Your comment was very humorous, 9/10, bravo.
[–]Alainkid 15 points16 points17 points  (8 children)
Nah, if I know one thing about North Korea, it is that that motherfucker loves cheese.
[–]Alainkid 54 points55 points56 points  (6 children)
I am preemptively banning myself from /r/Pyongyang for this comment.
[–]telemachus_sneezed 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
Man, even the news technology is backward in NK...
[–]CVBrownie 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
/r/Pyongyang is confused...
/r/Pyongyang has put you on notice...tread carefully American...
[–]sharts_mcgee 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
You have been double-banned from /r/Pyongyang
[–]mbrw12 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Are they all Green Bay Packers fans in NK?
[–]Phalanxia 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Click bait article with no source on the dailymail? Probably legit.
[–]JoeMagician 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I forgot that they have a corpse as technical head of state. Kim-Il-Sung is still Eternal President of the Republic, and seemingly will be forever.
[–]michwill 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Thankfully, Putin saved Russia from this sort of cheese addiction
[–]Mr_Xing 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Could you explain why you feel that this will be the case?
I'm not "worried" per-se, but wary. I don't have a nuke in my back yard, I don't want some guy across the world to have something I don't.
[–]JManRomania 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
UN puts new sanctions on North Korea.
UN sanctions Un.
[–]revolct 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
yay! And I thought why number 1 comment wasn't some retarded joke
[–]PunkZdoc 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
You have made fun of Kim Jung Un you are now banned from /r/pyongyang
[–]notimetoexplainrun 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Mission accomplished.
[–]thepalehunter 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)

4 actually happens in between 1, 2, and 3.

[–]notimetoexplainrun 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
That's a bold statement.
[–]poohster33 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
I feel like the cheese step happens between each step, and during each step.
[–]BigAngryIT 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Yeah, not much is gonna change, at least in the short run. Their delivery systems are still highly lacking and can't deliver payloads except to the closest of their neighbors and even so are very likely to be intercepted mid flight.
Confirmation of "Working H-Bomb built" doesn't even mean they have a weapon small enough to put onto any delivery system other than a plane.
Next thing to come out will be analyst estimates of the size of the payload they just tested along with attempts to answer the question "do they have enough material to build another, and if so, would it be the same size/bigger/smaller?" This is the same question the Japanese government had to ask themselves as well when the 2 bombs went down, and the same question we knew they would ask when we were deciding whether to use them in an "example" situation on a nearby monitored but uninhabited island, or on live targets. If they didn't err on the side of caution (meaning they would go with the assumption we could build more quickly if we didn't have them already) and called our bluff, then the war would have likely dragged on a bit longer.
My armchair general guess is:
They got the theory of how to make a bomb work, but are probably still at least another decade away from being a threat to anyone aside from their immediate neighbors. If they were to deliver a payload to any of their enemies it would likely be via some terrestrial means (tunnels, smuggling, etc) rather than aerial, unless they've got a metal gear somewhere that can shoot a payload.
[–]GuttersnipeTV 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
"These cheese, it so dericious"
[–]ernieballguitarist12 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
You forgot Katy Perry concert
[–]seattlyte 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
You missed the part where Korea, Japan, and the US with a green light from China attempt to coup the Kim regime and reunify the Korean Peninsula (a reunification Park Geun-hye announced to the UN and a coup being planned by thinktanks and military strategists).
[–]FeminineInspiration 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
and every time this happens more North Koreans die
[–]stankhead 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
this just made me eat some cheese
[–]_Tebro 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
•Vault-Tec will begin work
FTFY
[–]fatteningboy 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
we can only hope
[–]Ajc382 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Sounds just about right.
[–]huggalump 221 points222 points223 points  (3 children)
There is a big difference between "North Korea Successfully Conducts Hydrogen Bomb Test" and "North Korea Says They Successfully Conducted Hydrogen Bomb Test"
[–]b0ners4u[S] 48 points49 points50 points  (0 children)
That was the original title when the article was put up last night
[–]bio4 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Yeah, as far as I can tell the only international evidence is some seismic activity. Is it not possible to create a quake of similar magnitude without an H bomb?
It seems like a pretty good investment for them to fake an H-bomb test so well have to wait until its confirmed. Its just potentially horrible if it is true, so I understand why some people are feel worried.
[–]EauRougeFlatOut 136 points137 points138 points  (18 children)
I'm open to being proved wrong, but I HIGHLY doubt they have developed a two-stage weapon. The difference between two-stage nukes and pure fission ones is like the difference between fission bombs and a chemical bomb. For a country with the resources of NK to have gone from their first partially successful fission test to a working, miniaturized two stage device in just a few years and with just two development tests in between strikes me as virtually impossible, highly improbable even for a developed nation.
Two-stage thermonuclear weapons are some of the most complicated machines for their size ever built. I have a thermal physics undergrad and mechanical engineering masters, two subjects that specifically relate to the functioning principles of these weapons, yet despite years of interest and research nothing beyond the fundamental design and materials of these devices has revealed itself to me. These weapons took the smartest and most powerful nations in the world decades and enormous sums of money to develop, with nearly constant testing all the while.
Let me give an example of how hard it is to build these things. After the US stopped production of nuclear weapons in the late 80's, a lot of the specific knowledge of how to build them was buried for security reasons and inevitably something was lost, but thankfully it was only the procedure for creating the foam filler that surrounds the primary and secondary within the uranium casing. How long do you think it took our scientists to rediscover the method of producing this foam? Weeks? Months? No, it took over a decade. We only rediscovered how to produce it in 2007, and that's because we still don't completely understand the complex behavior of all these materials working in conjunction when these things detonate.
TL;DR North Korea is probably bluffing about their "hydrogen bomb" because it's virtually impossible for such a resource and knowledge deprived country to successfully design and construct such complicated devices in such a short period of time.
[–]SpamFilterHatesMe 11 points12 points13 points  (12 children)
I'm still confused and very much uninformed regarding all this. If you understand fundamental design and know materials needed to develop such device, where's bottleneck? What's stopping someone so resourceful like US government to develop it quickly and why it took them a decade?
Could you explain this better?
[–]bobskizzle 27 points28 points29 points  (2 children)
It's a coupled set of 3+1D differential equation(s) of whatever order and type (most likely very non-linear given the stiffness of a nuclear weapon system) populated with parameters that aren't known terribly well and the solutions of which are impossible to test without expending millions of dollars to detonate a nuke.
So obviously computers are used to close the iteration loop and hopefully at least tell you if your design will work (like shooting in the dark, "hey you hit something, yay!"). Now you have to get to that design with very little help from the analysis because you don't have a terribly good understanding of the nature of the solutions to the above differential equation(s).
This is just to design the first stage.
Now the second stage (where we ignite the hydrogen/lithium for fusion) requires you to form a waveguide (from the bomb case) that will take the x-ray wave-front from the first stage and have it land on the fusion core from all directions simultaneously, all the while not explosively disassembling the rest of the bomb prematurely. Essentially you're creating an explosively formed penetrator (look it up, it's super cool) with x-rays and controlling the timing by using x-ray reflectors and different materials to control the timing.
This is to design the second stage; the third stage is relatively simple as it's usually just a pile of uranium and/or lead of whatever mixture to determine your final yield. It typically doubles as an inertial damper to keep the bomb from falling apart too fast.
Now, you have to actually build this device using available materials. You need devices capable of accurately timing down into the microsecond range, and if you want to improve upon your testing, you need something that can measure things about the bomb explosion and can survive the explosion long enough to relay data to your computer system.
NK got to the first stage design, which is fairly well understood: you take a hollow ball of your nuke stuff and surround it with high explosives; do good on the timing of the explosives and BOOM, you have a nuke. The second stage is drastically more difficult due to the incorporation of another phenomenon (x-ray transport) coupling with your already existing mass transport and thermal transport equations.
I agree with /u/EauRougeFlatOut that it is exceedingly unlikely that NK has developed a working hydrogen bomb (of the teller-ulam type which is the scary one).
[–]EauRougeFlatOut 4 points5 points6 points  (1 child)
This was a really good explanation, it captured in words the thoughts I have when imagining how these things work. Thanks for the enjoyable read.
[–]S35X17 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
If there was ever a 1000 Karma up vote, I'd use it on your post. Thank you.
[–]EauRougeFlatOut 31 points32 points33 points  (7 children)
The bottleneck, basically, is in the specifics. Pure fission is relatively easy, I think me and a couple of other acquaintances of mine could build a shootable fission weapon given a few years, a test or two, legal immunity and all the materials we need. We'd probably never get to a safe and deployable weapon, and it certainly wouldn't be efficient just as the Hiroshima bomb wasn't, but I don't feel that fission has many secrets to hide, only the enhancement tricks and details are unknown. All it takes is a hefty hollow core of fissile material, and a method of very rapidly exerting lots of pressure on said core so it compresses and goes critical. Any methods beyond that of making the fission more efficient or the weapon safer are optional and much harder to implement, pretty much relying on practical experience. What I described as realistic to be built by me and some choice colleagues sounds like where North Korea was at a few years ago.
Staged weapons require you to have figured out all the tricks of fission weapons, because you have to actually keep the device intact for long enough for the fission to initiate fusion in the secondary, and then for the fusion to reciprocate and boost the primary. To do that you need to have explosives that impart a specific pressure on the core, which has to be surrounded by a shield called the tamper. The materials used in both of these things are codependent, and further dependent on the design of the rest of the weapon, so choosing the correct ones is partly down to trial and error. Assuming you have that figured out (you're at the peak of pure fission development), getting the secondary to initiate fusion in the first place is very tricky. Fusion requires vastly more energy to initiate than fission, more than can be provided by explosives, since the explosives would simply blow the thing apart long before they transferred the required energy. Currently it's believed they're doing this via "radiation pressure" where the enormous amount of high energy particles released in the first few moments of the fission reaction compress the lithium deuteride fuel, and activate a fissile uranium "spark plug" within the secondary which then compresses the lithium deuteride from the other side. In order to get the radiated particles focused in on the secondary requires a special foam filler that turns into an X-Ray conducting plasma under these energies (which is the thing we forgot how to build in the late 80s/early 90's up until 2007), and a carefully shaped casing made of a highly dense metal, usually uranium, that acts as a mirror for high energy photons. Somewhere in all this the lithium deuteride has to undergo a chemical reaction to release independent deuterium and tritium, the actual isotopes you're fusing. So after the fusion has been initiated, it has to impart its own radiation pressure back on the primary in order to boost fission efficiency. There's a misconception about two-stage weapons that the fusion itself is what provides most of the energy, but really its main contribution is to release the extra energy needed to get the primary to complete the fission of its plutonium before the weapon disintegrates and scatters completely.
So that's a quick and dirty explanation of how we think these devices work. If you can't see why successfully building this would be an insurmountable challenge with only a few years and a couple of successful fission tests, let me help you: there's no fucking way North Korea has figured out how to build a staged thermonuclear bomb.
[–]bobskizzle 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
There's a misconception about two-stage weapons that the fusion itself is what provides most of the energy, but really its main contribution is to release the extra energy needed to get the primary to complete the fission of its plutonium before the weapon disintegrates and scatters completely.
My understanding is that the fusion core's primary purpose is to provide a huge source of fast neutrons that will cause the U-238 (non-enriched) tamper to go supercritical, which is where the bulk of the explosive energy comes from. This would also have the side effect of irradiating the primary, like you said.
The primary was designed to be as small as possible and ovoid in form to fit into smaller MIRV packages, and the tertiary stage is where yield adjustments could be made (by substituting lead for U-238).
[–]EauRougeFlatOut 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
That small egg shaped primary is likely a relatively recent development, made possible by a safety trade-off in using more volatile explosives.
And as far as the fissile tamper, this is one of the areas that we really don't know much about. We don't even know for sure if the spark plug is the fissile core of the secondary. Of course a Uranium tamper will undergo fission at this level of energy input, but how efficient it is and therefore how much of the total yield it's responsible for is unknown. Either way, whether it's the primary or the secondary providing the bulk of the energy, most of that energy is from fission rather than fusion.
You probably know this, but just for anybody else that reads this: this whole complicated process is why the term "hydrogen bomb" is somewhat of a misnomer, which is another thing that makes me skeptical of NK's claim. Nobody who actually knows how these things work would describe it so erroneously, the fact that Eisenhower described it as such in 1953 is widely looked at by physicists as a mild gaff. Now, whether he did so out of his and his speech writers' ignorance or as a calculated move not to reveal the secrets of the weapon, is a debate I won't enter. But NK should not be making the same mistakes as were made 60 years ago if they want their claims to be taken with any credit, and this makes me think that their "H-bomb" was merely a boosted fission device that is no real quantum leap in their nuclear capabilities.
Edit: Hey man, I just looked into it and while I can't find a primary source for any of this it does appear you were partially right that the secondary tamper/pusher can provide a lot of the yield of the weapon. It appears to be optional however, with some weapons being "jacketed" and others "unjacketed" and the unjacketed ones still yielding enormous energy. The Tsar Bomba apparently was unjacketed. Yet more mysteries in the Teller-Ulam device.
[–]bitchtitfucker 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
Just to be sure: doesn't ITAR prevent you from sharing this type of information publicly? Or is it easily found online already?
[–]bobskizzle 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
It's all on wikipedia. ;)
[–]EauRougeFlatOut 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I don't have access to any information or physics knowledge that isn't already public. If someone comes knocking on my door for spreading public knowledge, then I'm even more glad to have done it.
[–]pugtoad -2 points-1 points0 points  (1 child)
In order to get the radiated particles focused in on the secondary requires a special foam filler that turns into an X-Ray conducting plasma under these energies (which is the thing we forgot how to build in the late 80s/early 90's up until 2007)
How do you know that this is forgotten or buried technology? Surely, some DOD official knows how to get their hands on this tech. I mean, I'd love it if we forgot how to build weapons that could destroy all life on this planet 100 times over. How do we know we really have forgotten it?
[–]AlllRkSpN 12 points13 points14 points  (0 children)
tl;dr
You somewhat know how to solve a maths problem, you still take 20 minutes doing calculations and applying formulas while checking the answer key to see if it's right.
[–]seamustheseagull 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
Kim was privately educated in Switzerland. Does it seem impossible that NK could have been sending a few hundred scientists to study abroad each year?
Within the country yes they're deprived, but if they've been throwing everything at it for 40 years, with Chinese support and internet acces they're going to make some progress.
Not disputing your analysis, just reckon it's not impossible.
However I have no doubt the US has satellite and possibly UAV imagery which it's currently studying to determine what actually happened today.
[–]EauRougeFlatOut 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Kim was privately educated in Switzerland. Does it seem impossible that NK could have been sending a few hundred scientists to study abroad each year?
No, seems entirely plausible.
Within the country yes they're deprived, but if they've been throwing everything at it for 40 years, with Chinese support and internet acces they're going to make some progress.
And indeed they have made some progress, they've detonated four to six nuclear weapons. They haven't made huge progress that would give them the ability to build staged thermonuclears. And again, the fact that just 4 years ago was their first partially successful test of a <10kt fission device gives a lot of context for their claim of having successfully detonated a staged weapon. If they've been throwing everything at this for 40 years and only just have conducted a successful shot makes it more implausible that they've bridged the gap to staged weapons since their first test, not less. If their development rate = one nuclear test in 36 years then they'll never make it to a staged weapon.
However I have no doubt the US has satellite and possibly UAV imagery which it's currently studying to determine what actually happened today.
Would be really tough to determine what the mechanism of the device was from satellite imagery. Maybe I'm ignorant to some method of spectrometry usable from orbit lol. If we could capture some atmospheric samples downwind from their testing range and check for an unusually high concentration of isotopes in the fusion reaction chain, such as Helium-3, that would tell us whether or not they've fused any matter in their test, but it still wouldn't be outright proof.
[–]Narcolepzzzzzzzzzzzz [score hidden]  (1 child)
Thank you.
My biggest question about anything technology related that North Korea does or claims to do is since they are so isolated how are the even getting the requisite knowledge? They can't be discovering and inventing everything themselves, and relying heavily on importing knowledge from the Internet or foreign textbooks is going to make it fairly obvious that the notion that NK is the best at everything is very wrong.
[–]EauRougeFlatOut [score hidden]  (0 children)
Well people smart enough to be building these things are unlikely to be buying into the propaganda anyway, they likely contribute their brains more out of fear and the fact that they are basically at the top of the totem pole in NK society. These guys would be middling scientists at best in developed world, while in NK they are the best and the brightest contributing to an enormous leap in their country's military power.
And while I don't mean to belittle the complexity of any nuclear weapons, pure fission devices are actually quite simple machines. I now think that what NK is calling an "H-bomb" (certainly for publicity and to evoke the fear that comes with the conventional meaning, being "two stage thermonuclear bomb") is merely a boosted fission weapon that uses lithium deuteride in the pit to "boost" the fission of the plutonium core. This was first developed a mere 2 years after the Trinity test, which is to say that it's not exactly the enormous leap in nuclear weapons technology that a staged thermonuke would be. So it's totally possible that they're developing this tech in house with information gathered from the internet, and frankly with a modern understanding of physics it wouldn't be all that hard to independently develop a decent fission bomb. In order for NK to get from here all the way to a two-stage device though would take more resources and brainpower than their country has to offer, IMO. And I certainly hope that if I'm wrong, someone will step in and stop them from achieving that state of development, because any deviation from the current nuclear status quo would make me very uncomfortable. Already I'm unhappy with the fact that Pakistan, India, and very probably Israel have significant nuclear arsenals.
[–]candytaco 50 points51 points52 points  (11 children)
It seems unlikely that this was a successful test. USGS pinned it to magnitude 5.1 and the Chinese equivalent agency put it at 4.9. This is on par with their prior test, which was also reported at 5.1 or 4.9. The more generous estimate for the last one put the yield at a max of 8-16 kt (source). The size of the explosions puts it on par with their last test.
The first ever fusion test, for comparison, Operation Greenhouse Dog, yielded 81 kt, and the most successful run for that, George, yielded 225 kt (source). The Dog explosion actually was not successful, and was a proof of concept for the fusion bomb design. George was successful, but the design was not weaponizable. The first full-scale thermonuclear test, Ivy Mike, yielded a full 10.4 Mt. All of these were orders of magnitude stronger than the 4th NK test.
Off the top of my head, there's three reasons I can think of as to why the 4th NK test's "thermonuclear" explosion registered the same magnitude as the previous test. 1) NK devised some super fancy dampening system that channeled the energy elsewhere (i.e. into the atmosphere) to reduce the seismic signature. 2) They managed to make a super low-yield thermonuclear weapon (I'm not a physcist, so I don't know how probable that is, but given the yield of every other thermonuclear weapon it seems improbable), and 3) It either failed or was just another fission device and Best Korea is making it up (again). Occam's razor points to the last one. If it's actually option 1, we'd be seeing radioactive stuff in the atmosphere very soon.
-edit- words
-edit- while the 50 Mt Tsar Bomba also registered magnitude ~5, it was an air detonation, so most of the energy would've went into the air and not become seismic waves. NK does underground tests.
[–]standardengineer 4 points5 points6 points  (6 children)
Don't forget India claimed to have tested a full teller ulam design for a 50 kiloton design in 1998 and said such a low yield thermonuclear staged device is possible.
[–]telemachus_sneezed 2 points3 points4 points  (3 children)
50 kilotons is still more yield than what you can produce with an a-bomb. The North Koreans still aren't close.
[–]Scattered_Disk 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
No, 50kt are within reasonable yield for an a-bomb.
[–]drpinkcream 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
I cant find any examples. Largest fission bombs I can find are ~20kt's which US used before hydrogen bombs were developed. Smallest H-bomb yield I can find is 43kt from India's Shakti I.
[–]Jaseoldboss 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
The largest pure fission bomb ever tested was the Mk 18F Super Oralloy Bomb (SOB) designed under the leadership of Dr. Theodore B. Taylor at Los Alamos. It demonstrated a yield of 500 kt in the Ivy King test at Eniwetok (15 November 1952 local).
[–]NatFuts 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
Warlike Gandhi is at it again
[–]EauRougeFlatOut [score hidden]  (0 children)
Low yields are actually a specialty of staged weapons, they are inherently scalable due to their very high efficiency. But without extensive testing, modeling, and development of pure fission weapons, supers, boosters, and large staged weapons, it would be quite impossible to create a miniaturized staged thermonuclear device. NK is claiming that they've skipped every step in between pure and simple fission and gone straight to an "H-bomb", which conventionally means "two stage thermonuclear device" but the only plausible "H-bomb" NK could have detonated is a boosted fission device which uses lithium deuteride in the hollow pit of the core to increase the yield of the weapon. This would put them approximately on par with US nuclear weapons development in 1947, however for NK to go from here and produce a true staged thermonuke I think would be a very tall order and I highly doubt they'll be able to make one before someone steps in to stop the proliferation of dangerous weapons knowledge.
[–]kazmanza 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
If you were to detonate it inside a huuuge underground cavern/cave then the coupling with the rockmass (where the seismic waves travel) wouldn't be as good. This would act like large attenuator of sorts, as compared to shoving into some solid ground where the device is in close contact to the ground with good contact and transfer of energy.
[–]Belly719 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
I've always wondered in the pictures you see of atomic bomb tests, they look...huge. Where do these tests occur, land, sea? Do you know, are there any environmental repercussions to these sorts of tests?
[–]candytaco 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
If you're looking at US tests, then the pretty pictures were mostly underwater detonations, and a few were on land. And yeah, environmental problems are really bad. The US, UK, and USSR signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty, in which they agreed to not do above ground, underwater, or space tests. However, the other nuclear states are not bound by it. Still, AFAIK, all recent tests were underground, which minimizes environmental impact.
Fun fact, the premise of Spongebob is that all the creatures are intelligent and sentient due to radiation. Bikini Bottom is at the bottom of Bikini Atoll, where the US used to test thermonuclear weapons, and Spongebob's society was a side effect.
[–]thedaveness 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
google something like "test site" because on there maps you can clearly see the holes
[–]jracky 737 points738 points739 points  (101 children)
I know it's the Reddit norm to laugh at North Korea and any threats they make, but you have to consider the perspective of the South Korean people and United States military stationed there like myself. This is NOT funny and is pretty scary. Does North Korea have a history of bluffing in order to gain leverage in its demands? Sure. Does that pattern of behavior indicate this is likely a continuation of that trend? Yes. Think for a moment however about news or personal stories you have of people making threats over a period of time and finally carrying them out. North Korean political and economic stability is fragile at best and the military leaders over Kim's shoulders would rather die before giving up power or giving in to "western" pressure. This is a government that threatens to, desires to, and has the ability to kill millions of people.
Idk, just don't laugh so hard about it guys.
[–]reaganwww 126 points127 points128 points  (7 children)
My cousin must be on base with you, then. Easier to joke when you don't know anyone over there. Thanks for putting up your perspective
[–]HMSBounty-A 5 points6 points7 points  (1 child)
This is commonly referred to as a "tripwire force" in that if North Korea attacks the South, American troops there will inevitably suffer collateral damage. Then, the US can posture any retaliation against North Korea as a "defensive response."
[–]somethingratherother 5 points6 points7 points  (0 children)
Yes, that is part of the Mutual Defense Treaty.
[–]Aj16ay -9 points-8 points-7 points  (2 children)
What a waste of resources and money. We have no business being in South Korea
[–]marineaddict 8 points9 points10 points  (0 children)
You are wrong:
ARTICLE III
Each Party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the Parties in territories now under their respective administrative control, or hereafter recognized by one of the Parties as lawfully brought under the administrative control of the other, would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes.
The US has every right to be there and is a deterrent to DPRK aggression.
[–]somethingratherother 8 points9 points10 points  (0 children)
We have no business being in South Korea
The global economy suggests otherwise.
[–]khrunix 45 points46 points47 points  (20 children)
They want to stay in power, as long as they're in power they won't use nukes of any form, because that would be the end for them.
[–]recovering_pessimist 5 points6 points7 points  (4 children)
Your expert opinion doesn't change the fact that something that can be joked about over here is a very real and present danger on the other side of the world. He's asking for some acknowledgement of that, at least respect that from your arm chair.
[–]khrunix 3 points4 points5 points  (3 children)
I mean, it's a fact that they want to stay in power and as soon as they drop a nuke, their country ends.
I have 3 friends in South Korea, none of them, their parents or friends are even slightly worried, they all know nothing will happen, now if there was some sort of power grap within the North Korean government there would be reason to worry, but not over more weapon tests.
Infact, they make more jokes about the North than anyone i've ever met.
[–]Dahkter -1 points0 points1 point  (2 children)
Looks like you still forgot to acknowledge what /u/recovering_pessimist said...
[–]khrunix 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
Which part? I'm commenting specifically that it's not a big deal to most people in South Korea, it's not more a real and present danger than Russia or Pakistan nuking people.
[–]00mba -2 points-1 points0 points  (0 children)
Armchairing intensifies
[–]Vultergyst 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
And if the day comes that the end is near and they realize they have nothing to lose by going out with a bang?
I still believe that a peaceful end is possible, but there's always the chance that the military leaders are going to go down kicking and screaming.
[–]khrunix 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
I mean, it's possible, but it's not something they're living in constant fear over.
[–]00mba -3 points-2 points-1 points  (0 children)
Armchairing intensifies
[–]skywalker777 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
That's what we all want to believe, but how much can we trust their logic?
[–]khrunix 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
Well, it's not like they're religious fanatics, they will do whatever it takes to stay in power.
If you want to worry about a nuclear power going rogue, Pakistan is far scarier, if a radical religious group gains power over there we're all fucked.
[–]00mba -2 points-1 points0 points  (0 children)
Armchairing intensifies
[–]Voxu 0 points1 point2 points  (5 children)
You're not in the military chamber of NK. Your speculation isn't fact.
[–]WilltheDILF 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
Its pretty obvious what he's saying, and makes complete sense. Countries develop nuclear weapons as a means for defense. Look up "mutual assured destruction", and you will see why having a nuclear warhead is so attractive to weaker countries (no one fucks with a nuclear state).
(Comment deleted or removed) [–][deleted]  (3 children)
[removed]
    [–]Chino1130 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    Exactly. They'd get one chance to detonate a nuke outside of NK before being turned to glass.
    [–]tommy1005 -1 points0 points1 point  (1 child)
    You ever hear of mutual destruction? Or perhaps jihad?
    [–]khrunix 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    Mutual destruction is what they're taking advantage of right now to stay in power.
    [–]y4my4m 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
    Here's what I'm worried about, NK bombs Japan, I die, North Korea dies and peace is once again found, but I'm still dead.
    [–]KumonRoguing 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
    If you ask any south Koreans about north Korea they laugh. They say they're like brothers who fight like little girls. Do they fear them? "haha no way!" will be the answer.
    [–]Triseult 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
    I lived in South Korea for two years and while the U.S. military might be worried about the DPRK, Korean civilians sure aren't. They've been through this shit countless times and know it's just empty posturing.
    Seriously, I was there three years ago during one of those yearly "this time it's different and really serious, you guys" phases and nobody gave a fuck. North Korea is in the business of brinkmanship because that's how they get international aid that lets the regime survive another year.
    [–]TheDdevil 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    That's a silly request, most people will either pay this no mind or laugh it up . Especially if they are in SK, for they have no choice but to poke fun at it for they know they have no power to prevent the shit from hitting the fan.
    [–]JACOBIBOI 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    But if we don't laugh it off, they win. We understand this is a very tense situation, and the dark history and underline that North Korea conflicts around. But there's not much else people can do? So what do we do? We laugh? Because we're scared? Maybe because we want attention? Some people joking about it don't even mean it personally, they just entertain? If we're being told to stop? Then we're just like them being forced to filter.
    Dude perfect example, world war 2 chants at hitler and German troops, they take the piss constantly. They can take our lives, but they'll never take our moral and borderline questionable humour!
    When I say 'they' I mean Kim, I also understand most of North Koreans society is suppressed in terms of freedom of speech
    [–]Mikazukinoyaiba 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
    The natives aren't too concerned, think you can only speak for yourself and the other foreign military stationed there.
    [–]darexinfinity 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
    We can do nothing but laugh, the US & SK aren't willing to start any military campaigns until NK does something serious. I would love to see Un get his ass kicked and have SK be able to rest from his reign. But nothing is done about their lies and big talk, heck this article has been posted without another country verifying this information. The media is quick to scare, so until SK or the US tell us to start worrying, we just have to treat it as a lie.
    [–]satansheat 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
    Cause baby you're a firework, come on, let your colors burst.
    [–]sangbum60090 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
    ...Except that most South Koreans don't really care about North Korean threats anymore. They went through it thousands of times. They are concerned of other issues, such as comfort women controversy
    [–]marineaddict 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    The ROK military held an emergency session because of this as well as the Japanese and the US. This is a big deal whether the public cares or not.
    [–]ramble_tamble 2 points3 points4 points  (9 children)
    We laugh because we know that if they ever actually did anything, it'll be the end of North Korea.
    [–]_MUY 17 points18 points19 points  (8 children)
    I can't laugh at that. The best way to see an end to North Korea would be a coup and political revolution which benefits the people. A retaliatory strike from the United States would be a significant blow to the people and expatriates of South Korea, who have family in North Korea which are already suffering under brutal oppression. And any war with North Korea could result in a very significant loss of life in South Korea and Japan, both in striking range of North Korean missiles.
    [–]IsaacClarkeSNL 5 points6 points7 points  (5 children)
    Not only that, but a post-war NK would probably be a literal shithole for a while.
    [–]patrickoriley 7 points8 points9 points  (2 children)
    Almost as bad as pre-war NK.
    [–]IsaacClarkeSNL 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
    As bad as it sounds, at least NK right now is a contained shithole. A liberated NK thats handled poorly would harbor all sorts of terrible shit.
    [–]Calamityclams 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    And sadly take many civilian casualties.
    [–]TheHuscarl 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    If NK used a nuke, it would be a parking lot.
    [–]AllUrMemes 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    North Korean missiles are few in number and crap quality. It's the fact that Seoul is so close to the border that they have about a million artillery pieces in range of millions of SK citizens and there is really no way to stop them because they are dug in.
    That's the whole deal with NK. They can't do shit except obliterate Seoul on their way out the door.
    [–]ZEB1138 -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
    Best case scenario is China intervenes and topples the government. That'd make China responsible for the millions of starving, uneducated North Koreans.
    I'd rather the U.S. not have to foot the bill for that and I'd rather the unwashed masses not drag down South Korea, either.
    [–]Spencer5cent 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    Thanks for saying this. I live in Taiwan and although I usually brush these tests in North Korea off it is a bit frightening that such an unpredictable country that is so nearby where I live has these capabilities.
    [–]toiuiydjhdyt 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    the military leaders over Kim's shoulders would rather die before giving up power or giving in to "western" pressure.
    Any reason why?
    Once their artillery and missile launch sites are taken out, they are finished.
    Seems stupid. Better to live in a SK prison than having you and your whole family dead.
    Even the Japanese during WWII weren't that crazy - and they are as hardcore as they come given the suicide attacks.
    [–]CaptainCupcakez 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    I feel this way every time these stories come up on reddit. People are fine laughing about it and calling Kim Jong Un a "big baby" but they fail to realise that this "big baby" is capable of killing millions of people and already has the equivalent of concentration camps set up. Not a thing to joke about.
    [–]Grumpy_Kong 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    Considering the top comment as of now is mostly joke, it is a sign of reddit's demographic shift...
    Thank you /u/jracky, for pointing out just how fucking serious this is...
    [–]seacrestfan85 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    Yeah south Korea is the only country that should Fear this.
    [–]chilltenor 9 points10 points11 points  (1 child)
    This bomb created the same magnitude tremor as their 2013 test.
    Ergo, it's highly unlikely to have been a successful thermonuclear device. At most, it was a fizzle - the primary detonated but failed to ignite the secondary.
    What is an interesting question would be where NK got all its lithium deuteride for the secondary stage from. LiD requires heavy water...
    [–]TheSeanis 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    Ergo, concordantly, vis a vis.
    [–]Umbrasquall 26 points27 points28 points  (1 child)
    Title is kind of misleading. It's "North Korea Says It Conducted Successful Hydrogen Bomb Test"
    [–]b0ners4u[S] 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    It was the original title
    [–]Yabish044 98 points99 points100 points  (8 children)
    Maybe the great leader just took the first shit of his life.
    [–]BrandOfTheExalt 47 points48 points49 points  (3 children)
    Kim Jong Un does not have a butthole. Silly /u/Yabish044.
    [–]Chupa_Mis_Huevos 10 points11 points12 points  (2 children)
    You have been made moderator of r/Pyongyang
    [–]KingOfTheNorthPole[🍰] 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
    You have been been banned from /r/Pyonyang
    [–]Jacob6493 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    BOOOO he's just trying to improve the shitty state of /r/Pyongyang
    [–]beardedtechguys 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    Kim Jong-Un have glory butthole so best of all!
    [–]GosymmetryrtemmysoG 47 points48 points49 points  (21 children)
    What takes so long to go from nuclear to hydrogen? Isn't any nuclear explosion hot enough, just throw some deuterium or whatever in the vicinity?
    [–]DEATH-BY-CIRCLEJERK 172 points173 points174 points  (4 children)
    Nice try, Kim Jong Un.
    [–]birdfucker666 49 points50 points51 points  (1 child)
    The recipe is cesium, water, and plutonic quarks
    [–]SlinkyBlue 17 points18 points19 points  (0 children)
    Phwew. Close one.
    [–]switchbrave 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
    Don't tell him guys, this is serious.
    [–]Problem119V-0800 29 points30 points31 points  (5 children)
    I think a Teller-Ulam device requires more finesse than, say, a gun-type uranium fission device. If this is in fact a hydrogen bomb it suggests their nuclear program is actually kinda solid. :(
    Edit: It sounds like we don't have really strong evidence that this was an H-bomb and not an A-bomb, except that NK says so. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    [–]RoboNerdOK 14 points15 points16 points  (0 children)
    This video does a great job of explaining how thermonuclear weapons work.
    [–]dWintermut3 28 points29 points30 points  (4 children)
    You're talking about a "fusion boosted pit" design, and yes they are not trivial but not hard.
    North Korea is claiming this is a true hydrogen bomb, a far more sophisticated teller-ulam device that uses a fusion bomb to ignite a separate mass of fusion fuel which can then in turn ignite a third and massively more powerful neutron capture phase.
    If this is a teller-ulam device that would indicate a significantly more sophisticated device that has the potential to be designed into a very powerful device: teller-ulam designs are how the u.s. made their multi-megaton devices and how the Soviets broke the 50 megaton level with the Tsar Bomba and could have used a more fissile reflector to push to the limits of what a nuclear bomb can theoretically output.
    My bet is they're calling a fusion-boosted fission device with a few grams of lithium deuteride in it an "H-bomb"
    [–]GATOR7862 26 points27 points28 points  (21 children)
    I wonder how long it will be until someone is forced to go in and squash that regime. It should have been done long ago for a million other reasons (mostly the people of DPRK), but at some point such an unstable nation's threats plus their growing capability will force a bigger world power to handle that problem.
    [–]BuckaroooBanzai 22 points23 points24 points  (3 children)
    US Army Engineer here. Been stationed in South Korea twice in my 14 year career. There was always a trend with N Korea's show of aggression during droughts and cold winters. The government makes threats and gets attention, the rest of the world knows they're starving and give them fuel and food while they tell their people they're showing the world they are strong. Then you'd hear the propaganda saying the world powers succumbed to their demands because fear North Korea and the illustrious leader. A win-win for them is how it appeared.
    [–]brucethem00se 21 points22 points23 points  (4 children)
    I hope they at least follow the standards the U.S. and Russia set back in the Cold War. "Modern" thermonuclear devices are basically impossible to detonate without the right code, which means
    • A: A modern warhead won't go off if it malfunctions, gets damaged, or even gets blown up. The worst case scenario is a dirty bomb, which is still MUCH better than the alternative.
    • B: Some nut who manages to steal one can't set it off without the codes. They'll even self-destruct (without a nuclear yield) if tampered with.
    Knowing them, I don't have much confidence in N. Korea's ability to follow safety standards... I'm definitely gonna lose sleep over this :(
    EDIT
    See:
    [–]munkeyy 6 points7 points8 points  (9 children)
    Sorry if this is a stupid question? where does North korea get Plutonium and nuclear fuel from?
    [–]abraksis747 64 points65 points66 points  (7 children)
    Somebody's Tummy must be Rumbling.
    [–]ap20120 53 points54 points55 points  (2 children)
    The rumblies that only hands can satisfy.
    [–]Shilo59 21 points22 points23 points  (0 children)
    But Caaaaaaaaarrrrl, that kills people!
    [–]Batraman 14 points15 points16 points  (3 children)
    The entire population of NK?
    [–]buddy626 9 points10 points11 points  (0 children)
    Well I guess it's time to find oil in North Korea then
    [–]De__eB 10 points11 points12 points  (8 children)
    Who the hell cares, seriously.
    What do you think Kim Jong Un likes more:
    • Being alive and a dictator
    • Being fucking dead
    For that reason, they aren't going to kick off a war of aggression with a nuclear first strike. If they started a war of aggression at all and didn't launch a nuclear first strike, the U.S. would dismantle their nuclear capacity before you can blink.
    And the only other situation in which them using a nuclear weapon comes to mind is if we decide it's a good idea to go start another regime change war, except this time up the ante by attacking a nuclear power. And I really desperately hope we're not that fucking stupid.
    You think NK is the only ones making threats? We stage mock invasions of North Korea every single year with our allies in SK....the only threat NK poses to anybody in the entire world is internal collapse and the rest of the world having to come in and fix it, and for that reason the absolute last thing we should be doing is sanctioning their economy and destabilizing their government.
    Seriously, just fucking ignore them, we've got plenty of other things to worry about in the world.
    [–]TugMine 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
    And the only other situation in which them using a nuclear weapon comes to mind is if we decide it's a good idea to go start another regime change war, except this time up the ante by attacking a nuclear power. And I really desperately hope we're not that fucking stupid.
    It's not the stupidity you have to worry about its the astronomical levels of hubris the United States seems to have. The problem is that American leaders have tendency of developing mistaken identities of themselves and have trouble remembering that they are not gods.
    [–]De__eB 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
    Sounds like the real threat is us not North Korea then.
    It's funny, we mock the Kim dynasty for their godlike claims, when we're the ones that think we get to play kingmaker with regimes and civilians in whatever country we decide needs a regime change and to hell with the economic impacts , or human and societal costs.
    [–]umaOnda 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
    North Korea capitalizes on 5.1 earthquake by making it seem like they caused it with their powerful bomb rather than let the world think their country was victim to anything.
    [–]deadaim_ 3 points4 points5 points  (3 children)
    Title of news article : North Korea SAYS It Conducted Successful Hydrogen Bomb Test.
    Title of Reddit link: North Korea Successfully Conducts Hydrogen Bomb Test.
    It's pretty bad when we are worse than journalist at their own game.
    [–]Pootin 4 points5 points6 points  (1 child)
    reddit news is pretty click baity these days which is to bad because it is originally why i ended up here.
    [–]bicho6 4 points5 points6 points  (1 child)
    A real life Civ 5 headline.
    [–]ArcticJew666 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
    But it wasn't Ghandi who tested the bomb.
    [–]Jux_ 19 points20 points21 points  (16 children)
    "Hydrogen"
    I'll wait for the kiloton estimates before I take their word for it
    [–]mmogrind 60 points61 points62 points  (37 children)
    It does not matter what type or size of nuclear weapon North Korea has. The results will be the same regardless.
    If North Korea ever uses a nuclear weapon on another country then every country with nuclear weapons will run a gang bang train on North Korea. There would be nothing left of North Korea and in its place would be a huge sloppy creampie.
    [–]BlackTeaLeaves 20 points21 points22 points  (1 child)
    huge sloppy creampie.
    you forgot radioactive
    [–]TheScion 25 points26 points27 points  (1 child)
    The imagery here is magnificent
    [–]Ba-Ba-B00ey 3 points4 points5 points  (1 child)
    I'm willing to bet that the real result would be special forces taking out key NK leaders. China does not want nukes flying anywhere close to it
    [–]-FLuX- 26 points27 points28 points  (4 children)
    Getting 2016 started off with a bang.
    [–]emptydiner 16 points17 points18 points  (5 children)
    How does NK feel about Saudi Arabia?
    [–]gulabjamunyaar 7 points8 points9 points  (3 children)
    Given Saudi Arabia's close relationship with the United States, not very positive. Uncle Kim hasn't established diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, the same level of diplomatic ties as the United States, Japan, and Taiwan.
    Edit: ya thinkin' what I think you're thinkin?
    [–]GTFErinyes 31 points32 points33 points  (12 children)
    Gotta love how the top comments in this thread are jokes about the situation.
    A hydrogen bomb is a huge deal. Its atomic bombs in the past were relatively weak, some yielding only Hiroshima-level (15 kilo-ton) weapons. Hydrogen bombs bring magnitudes more power - in the megaton range.
    Historically speaking, it wasn't until the hydrogen bomb that the connotation of nuclear weapons in the public eye began to change. Hydrogen bombs could well and truly wipe out entire cities at once and not just small parts of large cities. Atomic bombs, once considered for general use in conventional warfare, started to fall out of favor once it became clear that hydrogen bombs could be deployed in response and actually wipe out nations.
    That's how big of a deal hydrogen bombs are - it actually made the public perception of nuclear weapons as we think of them today.
    Anyone who has been stationed at the DMZ or Korea knows that tensions there are still very real. The amount of fucking around that North Korea does in the hopes of a hostile response or cross-border incident by the South or the US happens every day but doesn't get reported in the mainstream news. North Korea having these weapons has made things many times more complicated and dangerous
    [–]Shlongus 110 points111 points112 points  (44 children)
    I'm surprised this isn't getting as much coverage. That's pretty interesting stuff
    Edit: hey everyone I get it, this is an actual big event and is now getting a lot of coverage. I didn't realize when I made this comment that it just happened as I stumbled upon the article. I'm not used to being ahead of the pack so yeah. That is all.
    [–]jonmitz 71 points72 points73 points  (6 children)
    What do you mean? It happened an hour ago. There's multiple posts and a live thread.
    [–]Jux_ 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
    It's all over the news sub reddits and now showing up more on Twitter and Google news
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