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[wierd]

Look at it this way:

Their country is very small. If they start developing really large warheads, and testing them to go "Raaaawr! We have nucreah Fira Clacka now! US be scaered of us naow!!" every 3 months, they are just going to irradiate every square mile of their nation, and every aquifer in their country.

Why, because this requires them to keep developing bigger and bigger warheads, and even deep underground explosions are going to have serious consequences for them.  This is seriously a stupid flirtation with nuclear devices for them.

[martinuzz]

The Japanese meteorological institute confirms that the test was at least 10 times stronger than the tests conducted by NK last year.
That still doesn't have to mean it's a hydrogen bomb, but it does make it slightly more probable.

NK state media says their new nuclear weapon has a strenght ranging from several dozens to several hundreds of kilotons TNT, suggesting it is an adjustable yield design.

[Antioch]

I think the chance of war is very real at this point.


We will probably see a military buildup over the coming weeks/months, followed by another crisis, followed by an ultimatum and ultimately a Decapitating missile and air strike followed by full scale war.

[smjjames]

It hasn't yet gotten so hot that they start pulling out American civillians from SK, when we start doing that, THEN we'll know things have truly gotten hot.

Also, on top of all this, Trump is preparing to withdraw from the SK trade deal. Definetly isn't going to make SK happy.

[Akura]

I imagine its been asked before, but, who is supplying them with materials for these things?

[GiglameshDespair]

I imagine its been asked before, but, who is supplying them with materials for these things?

Themselves.
NK has a lot of uranium. 4 million tons of high quality uranium ore or so.

They received machinery and information on enriching it from Pakistan back in the 1990s.

[martinuzz]

Japanese seismologists have calculated that the nuclear test caused a 100 kiloton TNT equivalent explosion. Norwegian seismologists' calculations even came up to 120 kiloton.
That's a lot of destructive power, but not really at the scale yet of a hydrogen bomb. Experts speculate that it either wasn't a hydrogen bomb, or it was, but it only detonated partially.

North Korea's previous test was calculated to be about 15 kiloton.

[alway]

Most of the trouble with making nuclear weapons really comes down to precision machining and industrial process. Basic designs are public knowledge, as are high level overviews of how to enrich the ore, and a couple truckloads of ore is enough to make a bomb. The real reason every country doesn't have them is they don't want to bother with managing a large, expensive high security set of chemical plants that makes no revenue and with no immediate benefit. And then you need a space program on top of that to develop an actual ICBM system.

[Paxiecrunchle]

This Chyna really need a buffer state so badly that they want to continue pumping resources into one of the worst regimes seen in the last 50 years or so? Do they also want nukes so close to their border?

Or have they finally decided to stop giving the Unicorn Riding Koreans extra supplies?

[martinuzz]

Trump has said that the US are considering breaking all ties with any nation trading with North Korea (such as China), and he did not rule out military action.
Jim Mattis added that "Washington does not want to destroy North Korea, but we are quite capable of it".

The UN security council will hold an emergency meeting this monday.

[smjjames]

This Chyna really need a buffer state so badly that they want to continue pumping resources into one of the worst regimes seen in the last 50 years or so? Do they also want nukes so close to their border?

Or have they finally decided to stop giving the Unicorn Riding Koreans extra supplies?

Because they aren't comfortable with having an US friendly country/regieme right up against their borders and they are REALLY, REALLY, uncomfortable with having US troops (plus radars and all the assorted stuff that come with an US base) anywhere near their border, even if it's in a friendly country.

Maybe they'd be fine with US troops and stuff being stationed no closer than they are currently.

Geopolitics aside, which can be negotiated in the end, what they are REALLY worried about, is the aftermath of a NK regieme collapse. As much as they have distaste for NK, and they've been giving China the middle finger a good deal recently, they don't want it to destructively collapse because then that would mean that they'd have to deal with the refugees pouring out and the instability that comes with a failed state.

[ChairmanPoo]

I don't think they have distaste for NK at all, for that matter

People here do realize that our view of NK (and their relationship to China) is, in fact, quite biased, right?  I mean, it's probably not a pleasant place to live, but you have to take with a grain of salt the more outlandish rumors.

[martinuzz]

The South Korean minister of Defense has stated that "it is time for military action, instead of talks". South Korea military reports it has intel pointing to North Korea preparing the launch of a long range missile.

[Grimlocke]

I don't think they have distaste for NK at all, for that matter

Given that the current North Korea is pretty much Maoist China's mini-me, I would guess the current CCP views them with a mixture of nostalgia and shame.

Its like a embarrassing younger sibling that never grew out of its extreme Stalin worship phase.

In a slightly more sincere tone, Mao brought China to the brink of revolt, starvation and bankruptcy with the Korea war, on top of all the dead people. I really doubt the CCP will write off its most enthusiastic clone anytime soon.

[dennislp3]

I don't think they have distaste for NK at all, for that matter

Given that the current North Korea is pretty much Maoist China's mini-me, I would guess the current CCP views them with a mixture of nostalgia and shame.

Its like a embarrassing younger sibling that never grew out of its extreme Stalin worship phase.

In a slightly more sincere tone, Mao brought China to the brink of revolt, starvation and bankruptcy with the Korea war, on top of all the dead people. I really doubt the CCP will write off its most enthusiastic clone anytime soon.

I have a feeling at this point that China doesn't give a shit about the politics of NK and is far more annoyed/concerned with the idea of America having a strong presence directly on it's border.

Despite the level of shit that is NK (leadership at least...not people) America is still the aggressor at the moment. America has spent over 20 years performing diplomatic actions against NK to "no effect"...but that is not a mistake. America is essentially trying to choke NK into a war to further it's global military stance.