Unidentified tremors detected in North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
(Image credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images)

As-yet unidentified tremors were detected in North Korea early Saturday near the site of previous nuclear weapons tests. While China labeled the 3.4-magnitude quake a "suspected explosion" that could be Pyongyang's second nuclear test in a matter of weeks, an official from South Korea's meteorological agency said initial assessments indicate it was more likely a natural earthquake. North Korea has not commented either way.

On Friday, North Korea's foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said his government might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean. "This could probably mean the strongest hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean," Ri announced. "Regarding which measures to take, I don't really know since it is what Kim Jong Un does."

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.