so we re waiting for this i think the isotopic signature to totally know what this was. bottom line, based upon what you know, do you think this is real or a hoax? we overall would tend to agree with the white house. for the moment, we don t believe that we believe north korea is actually possibly bluffing about having an h-bomb. and the reason for that is simple. when we re talking about h-bombs, we commonly refer to a very specific type of nuclear weapon. we re referring to a two-stage fission if fusion nuclear device, which is a device very complicated to build and at the same time the yield associated with that test that happened this morning is a lot lower than the yield you would expect from the testing of this type of weapon. so the testing of a two-stage fission/fusion nuclear weapon. at the same time, though, we have two possible alternatives. yes, north korea may be bluffing. however, they may have undertaken a test of a device that they ve already tested before so we r
they do not have. they succeeded today. there are headlines all over the world saying they ve got an h-bomb. i think the evidence indicates they do not. this was quite a small seismic event, kwequivalenkwiequivalent0 to 7,000 tons of tnt, actually smaller than their last test. even a failed hydrogen bomb test would give you a yield of 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 tons of tnt. so that s the primary reason right now most of us don t believe this is a hydrogen test. we ll know more over the next couple of days as we start to get atmospheric sampling. the comprehensive test ban treaty organization as a worldwide monitoring system of seismic monitors, sonar monitors and atmospheric monitors that can detect the emissions from even an underground test. we ll start to get that isotopic
signature that will tell us much more clearly what this was. before we get that isotopic signature, oftentimes when we talk north korea, bluster goes hand in hand. if you re calling it right here saying, listen, nuclear hoax, why go out of their way? why now? why, joe ? well, this is part of a pattern. just last year they announced they successfully launched an underwater list i will amissiles a clip that looked like a missile coming out of the water. it was one stage, went about 100 yards. that s about all. they have a history of exaggerating. they score 11 holes in one in a golf game. that kind of thing. what they re trying to do is puff themselves up, particularly as kim jong-un is still a new leader. got to make headlines. got to show he s powerful. part of this fatal attraction