SEOUL, Feb. 1 (UPI) — North Korea said it wants to resolve its nuclear issue through negotiations with the United States, while warning that it is capable of attacking the U.S. mainland with its tested hydrogen bomb.
North Korean state media outlet DPRK Today published an article Monday that disparaged the United States for its “psychological avoidance” and its denial of Pyongyang’s nuclear prowess, Newsis reported.
“Experts the world over have said the development of a hydrogen bomb following the production of nuclear bombs is commonplace and have predicted North Korea would develop thermonuclear weapons technology. But the United States in its state of ‘psychological avoidance’ refuses to admit to [the reality],” North Korea said.
Pyongyang said North Korea “had no need to test a hydrogen bomb” because the country already has the capacity to make nuclear weapons and update its current arsenal of WMDs, or weapons of mass destruction.
“We have told the United States if they cease their aggressive invasion exercises aimed at [North Korea], we would hold off on a nuclear test,” North Korea said.
That didn’t happen, according to Pyongyang, adding it has the capability of making an unlimited number of hydrogen bombs that can target the U.S. mainland, or something “more powerful.” If North Korea’s territory was as expansive as the United States, it could have tested a bomb that is a “hundred-fold” more powerful, state media said.
On Jan. 28, CNN reported the United States has reason to believe North Korea might have attempted to test components of a hydrogen bomb on Jan. 6, although multiple sources have suggested otherwise.
Consensus is growing in Washington that a stronger response is necessary, and last week U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., sponsored a North Korea sanctions bill that passed unanimously at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The legislation includes penalties for North Korea cyber crime and sanctions for trade in precious metals that could go toward North Korea weapons manufacturing.
