Japan's defence minister on Tuesday said North Korea's latest nuclear test was more powerful than initially estimated, with a yield that was around eight times the size of the bomb detonated over Hiroshima. North Korea on Sunday triggered global alarm when it blasted what it described as a hydrogen bomb designed for a long-range missile.
Japan's defence ministry had earlier said the bomb had a 70-kiloton yield, based on an estimated magnitude by the preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO). But Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters Tuesday that his ministry had upgraded its estimate to around 120 kilotons in accordance with an upward revision by the CTBTO.
"We can figure out that the nuclear test displayed a fairly high capability," Onodera said. At 120 kilotons, the blast yield would be around eight times more powerful than the 15-kiloton US bomb which destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.