Dictator Watch - Kim Jong Un's H-bomb

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has just tested a more powerful atomic bomb - a hydrogen bomb. That's a dramatic step up in destructive power from his country's previous nuclear tests.  Combine with the testing of intercontinental missiles it means the rogue nation has become an existential danger. ang’s sixth nuclear test came after Kim Jong Un showed off what he described as a hydrogen bomb for an ICBM

SEOUL—North Korea said it conducted a sixth and significantly larger nuclear test Sunday, stepping up pressure on President Donald Trump in what is shaping up to be his biggest foreign policy crisis.

In a televised statement, North Korea described the underground explosion, which triggered a large earthquake, as a “perfect success in the test of a hydrogen bomb for an ICBM.” Pyongyang said “the creditability of the operation of the nuclear warhead is fully guaranteed.”

The test came just hours after leader Kim Jong Un showed off what he described as a hydrogen bomb capable of being mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The explosion at the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri in North Korea’s mountainous northeast triggered an initial magnitude-6.3 earthquake, followed by a magnitude-4.1 temblor that was possibly caused by a structural collapse, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

After 8 years of an Obama administration that focused half-halfheartedly on Iran before caving on a terrible deal, while ignoring North Korea the Trump administration has been left with a couple of terrible messes to clean.  This one will be particularly challenging for president Trump. Pyongyang might be full of bluster, but Kim Jong Un could indeed be a tinfoil hat nut job. Dealing with the former is manageable, the latter is at best, tricky.

North Korean Nuclear Test

North Korea has apparently conducted an underground nuclear test earlier today. The incident registered as a 5.1 magnitude earthquake. North Korea claims the test was of a Hydrogen Bomb, as opposed to a lower yield Atomic Bomb. South Korean spies claim it was of the latter type.

Regardless, the test drew international condemnation, including from that of their benefactor/protector, China. The U.S. joined in the condemnation.

I would expect no further action from the United States. The president is focused far too keenly on his next domestic agenda item, gun control. He also has a history of excessive softness on foreign policy; with Russia, with China, with Syria, multiple instances with Iran, with Venezuela and previously with North Korea. He's soft and the international perception is that he is ineffectual in projecting American influence.

In other words, he's not going to do anything, and the world is currently an unpoliced Wild West where you can do anything you want without consequences. For example, you can conduct a test of an underground nuclear detonation and get not even a slap on the wrist but rather the geopolitical equivalent of rolling eyes.