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HIS: This Day in History: 2016 – The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with South Korea calling it "maniacal recklessness".

 HIS: This Day in History: 2016 – The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with South Korea calling it "maniacal recklessness".

September 2016 North Korean nuclear test

The government of North Korea conducted a nuclear detonation on 9 September 2016, the fifth since 2006, at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, approximately 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Kilju City in Kilju County.

Background

North Korea's previous nuclear test was conducted 8 months earlier in January 2016 and drew sharp international condemnations. Despite calls from China and Russia to return to the six-party talks, North Korea maintained its nuclear and missile ambitions:

During the 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim Jong-un announced a route of parallel development of nuclear weapons and the nation's economy, and the planned date for the fifth nuclear test launch was announced.

On 22 June 2016, North Korea successfully launched its land-based medium-range missile Hwasong-10 to an altitude of 1,413.7 kilometres (878.4 mi) and a range of 400 kilometres (250 mi). The missile test demonstrates that the missile's range could be as far as about 3500 km. Even though some experts are skeptical about whether Hwasong-10 has the capability to deliver the warhead to the U.S. Guam military base at the configuration used in this test, they agreed that Guam is in the range if the weight of the warhead can be reduced from 650 kg to less than 500 kg.

On 7 July 2016, South Korea announced its decision to deploy THAAD, despite the strong objections from China and Russia.

On 24 August 2016, North Korea successfully launched its submarine-launched ballistic missile Pukkuksong-1 into Japan's Air Defense Identification Zone with a 500 kilometres (310 mi) range and similar altitude. Using a more reliable cold launch technology and solid-fuel rocket, North Korea is developing its technology towards having a second-strike deterrence. The test was the first time North Korea was able to develop a solid fuel rocket. It had previously been assumed that North Korea was only able to develop liquid fuel missiles, as evidenced of Rodong-1.

The United States and South Korean joint military exercise occurring twice a year — Foal Eagle in February until April and Ulchi-Freedom Guardian in August until September—concluded on 2 September 2016. North Korea regularly raised strong objections to the drills because it interprets the drills as "hostile forces...preparing for an invasion into North Korea".

On 5 September 2016, North Korea fired three consecutive Rodong-1 missiles into the Sea of Japan and at a range of about 1,000 km. This marked the Rodong-1 as a credible and matured missile suitable for operational deployment since its first successful launch in 1993. The United Nations Security Council condemned North Korea's missile launches.

The nuclear test was conducted on 9 September 2016, which is the 68th anniversary of the founding of North Korea.

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