MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, North Korea claimed it had carried out its first test of a hydrogen bomb. The move triggered deep concern of the international community over the possible threat to both regional and global peace and security.
"The world does not have effective levers to pressure North Korea. North Korea is a nuclear empire and will remain this way," Andrei Lankov, a Kookmin University professor and an expert on North Korea said.
Following the announcement, several states, especially neighboring South Korea and Japan, have subsequently called for new sanctions against North Korea.
The expert explained that Pyongyang did not depend on trade with other countries, and had the lowest foreign trade Gross National Product (GNP) value in the world. Therefore, the country is unlikely to see any worsening in its economic situation even if the alleged nuclear test led to new sanctions.
According to Vasily Kashin, a senior research fellow at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, North Korea’s military strengthening is aimed at showing everyone that it "is the way it is, it is nuclear and will not be another way, these are new facts, a new status quo."
Kashin added that the current Pyongyang leadership was unlikely to give up nuclear weapons, so the international community should come to terms with the new realities and act on them.
"All other levers of influence have been exhausted, that is why the North Koreans are acting the way they are. Because they believe and understand that it will not get worse," Kashin said.
Wang Junsheng, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said however that Pyongyang’s nuclear status is unlikely to be accepted by the global powers.
"In the current situation, North Korea’s status of a nuclear empire will not be accepted. The United States and Japan will soon issue their tough position on this," Wang said.
According to Wang, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un picked January 6 for the nuclear test on purpose, as he believes that the world is unlikely to react to it harshly during the New Year celebrations. The expert reminded that both Washington and Seoul were also busy with their respective upcoming presidential elections in 2017.
"The international community will only go as far as making tough statements, the world has other business on its mind other than North Korea. The Middle East is ablaze right now, it is really more serious than North Korea," Lankov said.
Kashin agreed with Lankov that the issue of the North Korean nuclear program was overshadowed by the conflict in the Middle East.
The United States, Japan and South Korea, as well as Russia and China, took part in talks on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula with North Korea from 2003 until 2009, when Pyongyang withdrew from the talks.
