The White House on Wednesday cast doubt on North Korea’s claim that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
“The initial analysis that’s been conducted of the events that were reported overnight is not consistent with North Korean claims of a successful hydrogen bomb test,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “There’s nothing that’s occurred in the last 24 hours that has caused the United States government to change our assessment of North Korea’s technical and military capabilities.”
“I hasten to add that we’re continuing the work necessary to learn more about the nuclear test that North Korea conducted last night,” he added. “The extensive, independent analysis that’s been done in the United States and in other countries… includes significant and understandable skepticism… of the claims of the North Korean regime.”
When asked if the administration could rule out that North Korea detonated a hydrogen bomb, Earnest repeated that the first round of analysis “is not consistent with the North Korean claims of a successful hydrogen bomb test.”
He also dismissed Republican criticism that North Korea is responding to Obama’s weak foreign policy as a politically motivated charge. He said GOP presidential candidates are simply trying to win votes in a conservative primary.
“We’ve heard a lot of campaign rhetoric but not a lot of specific, tangible suggestions about what can be done differently,” he said.
Several Republicans, including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, have blamed North Korea’s nuclear tests on Obama’s weak global leadership.
Earnest would not say exactly what U.S. authorities have determined took place in North Korea Tuesday, but did refer to it as a “nuclear test.” He said U.S. authorities would work with allies in the region to monitor the situation.
“I don’t have a lot of details to share with you,” he said. “The U.S. will obviously be working closely with our allies in the region that have their own capabilities that can be brought to bear in the collection of this data. When we have more analysis to share, we will certainly do that.”
Earnest specifically mentioned the role China, which agrees on curbing North Korea’s nuclear weapons development, will likely play in responding to the provocation. Susan Rice, the president’s national security adviser, finished speaking to the Chinese ambassador to the United States Wednesday on the topic just before the White House briefing began.
“There are plenty of things with which the U.S. and China disagree, but this is an issue on which we do agree, and that agreement is significant because of the important role that China plays as a neighbor of North Korea,” he said.
North Korea, Earnest said, must realize there is “only one path out of their poverty and isolation – ending their provocative acts and demonstrating some sort of commitment to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”
