North Korea reportedly said on Sunday that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded on an intercontinental ballistic missile. The shockwaves from the test were first registered in China, then in South Korea and Japan, before spreading further out.
The South Korean Environment Ministry has made a decision to conditionally approve the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense systems deployment on the territory of the Asian nation, local media reported Monday.
The Yonhap news agency reported, citing its own sources, that the decision had been made after the review of research prepared by the South Korean Defense Ministry which focused on the environmental impact of deployment in the country's eastern, North Gyeongsang province.
Despite the opposition of local environmental activists and residents, the ministry is expected to make an official announcement later in the day that would remove the last administrative barrier on the issue of deployment, the news outlet reported.
The opponents of deployment consider the ministry's research of not being credible enough and demand its revision, the news agency added.
Hydrogen bombs, also called thermonuclear bombs, use nuclear fusion, which releases far more energy than splitting of the atoms used in atomic bombs.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Sunday that Tokyo could not rule out the possibility that Pyongyang tested a hydrogen bomb.
