North Korea held a mass celebration for the scientists involved in carrying out its largest nuclear blast to date, with fireworks and a mass rally in Pyongyang.

Citizens of the capital lined the streets Wednesday to wave pink and purple pom-poms and cheer a convoy of buses carrying the specialists into the city, and toss confetti over them as they walked into Kim Il-Sung Square.

"We offer the greatest honour to Comrade Kim Jong-Un, the Supreme Leader who brought us the greatest achievement in the history of the Korean people," read one banner in the plaza, where tens of thousands of people were gathered.

Another, with a picture of a missile on a caterpillar-tracked transporter, proclaimed: "No-one can stop us on our road to the future."

The blast triggered global condemnation and calls by the US, South Korea, Japan and others for stronger United Nations Security Council sanctions against the North.

The official Korean Central News Agency described it as a "successful ICBM-ready H-bomb test".

Speakers at the rally said the North's military "will put an end to the destiny of the gangster-like US imperialists through the most merciless and strongest preemptive strikes if they and the hordes of traitors finally ignite a war", KCNA reported.

Sunday's blast was the North's sixth nuclear detonation and by far its biggest to date.

Hydrogen bombs, or H-bombs, are thermonuclear weapons far more powerful than ordinary fission-based atomic bombs, and use a nuclear blast to generate the intense temperatures required for fusion to take place.

Foreign governments have yet to confirm whether Sunday's blast was a full two-stage thermonuclear weapon, or an enhanced fission device.

Working out its size depends on factors including the magnitude of the earthquake generated, the depth at which it was buried, and the type of rock surrounding it.

Estimates vary from South Korea's 50 kilotons to Japan's 160. But all of them are far larger than the 15-kiloton US bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.

North Korea in July carried out its first two successful tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), apparently bringing much of the US mainland into range.

Seoul and Washington early Thursday deployed four more launchers in the South for the THAAD missile defence system, whose presence has infuriated Beijing.

The move was part of measures to defend the South from the North, Seoul's defence ministry said.

Trump pushes hardware to allies -- and ups pressure on N.Korea
Washington (AFP) Sept 6, 2017 - With global tensions spiraling over the North Korean nuclear crisis, President Donald Trump wants to pile extra pressure on Pyongyang by urging regional allies to dramatically boost spending on high-tech US military gear.

Though existing regulations preclude any sudden changes, Trump's remarks this week open the door to what could amount to a regional military buildup -- a move sure to anger China.

"I am allowing Japan & South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States," Trump said Tuesday on Twitter.

A day earlier, he told his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in that Washington is willing to approve arms sales worth "many billions of dollars" to Seoul following Pyongyang's most powerful nuclear test to date.

Tensions are soaring after Pyongyang's test Sunday of what it said was a hydrogen bomb designed for a long-range missile.

Declaring that "enough is enough," America's ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said existing measures had not worked and accused North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un of "begging for war."

And South Korea's defense minister has said it's time to reconsider whether the US should redeploy "tactical" nuclear weapons to South Korea -- the reduced-yield warheads were withdrawn in the 1990s.

Experts worry such a move would heighten the risk of a mishap or goad North Korea into conducting a first strike.

Meanwhile, the United States is lifting restrictions on South Korean missile payload capabilities, previously restricted to a maximum warhead weight of 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds).

Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said the limit had been raised to 1,000 kilograms.

- 'Not his call' -

Both South Korea and Japan already spend billions of dollars annually on US military technology. Owing to how the US approves arms sales, it is impossible to increase spending overnight.

The State Department's Foreign Military Sales program is a lengthy process in which bureaucrats vet a request before passing a prospective deal to Congress for approval.

Jim Schoff, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Trump cannot circumvent these rules.

"It's not his call to do that," Schoff told AFP. "It's Congress's call in many cases to waive the restrictions and limitations that they themselves have put on the sale of US technology."

Even after Congress approves a sale, it can take the Pentagon months or even years to flow the equipment to the purchasing country.

While Trump's words will have little immediate effect on military sales, his messages may help pressure China into taking a more assertive role in addressing North Korea's weapons program.

Beijing does not want sophisticated US radars and weapons systems on its doorstep and reacted furiously when the United States deployed the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to South Korea.

- Missile defenses -

The United States sold arms worth nearly $5 billion to South Korea between 2010 and 2016, according to an analysis by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

South Korea was the fourth biggest buyer of US arms in that period, behind Saudi Arabia, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates.

And Japan spends roughly $3 billion per year on US defense equipment and weapons systems, Schoff said.

Much of that is for high-end US weapons systems such as the F-35 stealth fighter and Global Hawk drones.

Japan could significantly boost its spending on additional F-35s or Aegis Ashore, a land-based adaptation of the maritime Aegis missile-defense system.

Japan already has Patriot batteries, which can stop lower altitude missiles, and SM-3 missiles that can take out short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles flying at higher altitudes.

Some experts are calling for the United States and its allies to shoot down future North Korean missiles.

The technology is not perfect but the Pentagon has demonstrated it can hit ICBM and intermediate-range missile targets.

An attempted shoot-down would "put the burden of risk on North Korea in challenging the United States and its allies and of escalating any potential crisis," wrote Evans Revere and Jonathan Pollack of the Brookings Institution.

Schoff said any attempt to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea was pointless, as it would amount to exposing bombs that are currently well hidden in submarines or elsewhere.

"Why would you want to take the nukes off those hard-to-find platforms, put them in a bunker with a big 'hit me here' sign on it?" he said.

Klingner, of the Heritage Foundation, said Trump's messages may have been more aimed at reassuring South Korea rather than any meaningful shift in how weapons are sold.

"In a lot cases with (South) Korea, it's: 'We want you to do something to reassure us,' and sometimes the specifics don't matter," he told AFP.

Tweet

Haley: Nuke deal allows Iran to become new North Korea
Washington (AFP) Sept 5, 2017
Washington's ambassador to the United Nations warned Tuesday that, if left unchanged, the Iran nuclear deal could allow Tehran to pose the same kind of missile threat to US cities as North Korea. President Donald Trump is due to decide in the middle of next month whether he believes Iran is living up to its commitments or whether to seek new US sanctions that could torpedo the accord. Hi ... read more

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only