Despite North Korea’s boasting, the true impact of the test remains uncertain. Some are questioning whether it was a hydrogen bomb, including Joe Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund, which works on nuclear disarmament.

North Korea routinely exaggerates its nuclear capabilities. US officials and Chinese researchers each pegged the 2006 plutonium test blast at less than one kiloton—one tenth the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Meanwhile, just this month the country claimed it launched its first submarine ballistic. But analysts say a successful launch would be highly unlikely, and it would take about five more years before their technology was up to the task.

Regardless of the bomb’s impact, the test is unlikely to improve North-South relations on the Korean Peninsula. A set of high-level talks last December aimed at re-unifying families across the border failed, and Seoul’s unification minister said the South has no plans to instigate any further discussions with its neighbor.

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