'Rocket Man' strikes back, Japan braces for the most powerful H-bomb test ever

There seems to be no end to the military rhetoric between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. In his speech during his first appearance at the UN General Assembly, President Donald Trump criticized the North’s unrelenting missile tests and called its leader “Rocket Man.” And following that “hate” speech, Kim Jong-un riposted by calling Trump 'mentally deranged dotard'. He also warned that Trump would “pay dearly” after he made threats of total destruction to North Korea, The Telegraph reported.

Kim Jong-un threatened an H-bomb test on the Pacific Ocean

According to the defense minister of Japan, Itsunori Onodera, it is highly possible that North Korea will launch another nuclear missile using ICBM that will fly over Japanese territory towards the Pacific. The Japanese government had already warned its people to brace themselves for another H-bomb test. Also, the Japanese government warned that any ICBM posing a threat to their territory would be shot down, CNN reported.

The tension on the Korean peninsula escalated following the statement of Ri Yong-ho, the foreign minister of Pyongyang.

Ri said that the North could respond to the threats of President Trump by launching another hydrogen bomb towards the Pacific Ocean. This could be the most powerful H-bomb of North Korea, Ri added.

According to CNN, the North’s leader considered striking back at the “highest level” as a response to President Trump’s threats of total destruction for the communist regime.

Moreover, experts believed that a nuclear test using ICBM could be utterly frightening because of the fatal consequences if it completely goes wrong. An expert on nuclear strategy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vipin Narang, said such nuclear test using ICBM could definitely create risks to shipping and aircraft in spite of North Korea’s declaration of a keep-out zone.

Tougher sanctions

From a “peaceful pressure” campaign to stop North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, the United States government took another step to expand and toughen sanctions against Kim Jong-un’s communist regime as well as the countries that transact business with the North.

According to Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury Secretary, the demarche of the White House is directed at all countries and not specifically directed at the Chinese government, although China does major business transactions with North Korea.