WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- The United States has tentatively concluded that North Korea detonated an H-bomb over the weekend, as the regime has claimed, a senior U.S. administration official said Thursday.
The remark underscores the gravity of the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as an H-bomb is far more destructive than the atomic weapons the regime has tested in the past.
"We're still assessing that test," the official told reporters in a teleconference, referring to the detonation on Sunday.
"I can say that so far there's nothing inconsistent with the North Korean claim that this was a hydrogen bomb, but we don't have a conclusive view on it yet," he said on the condition of anonymity.
Pyongyang conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sunday, claiming it was a successful detonation of an H-bomb that can be mounted on a long-range missile. Its fourth nuclear test in January 2016 was also of an H-bomb, according to Pyongyang, but outside experts said it was more likely to be a boosted fission weapon.
The official dismissed the notion that U.S. President Donald Trump may be willing to tolerate a nuclearized North Korea if it is contained and deterred.
"We are very concerned that North Korea might not be able to be deterred," he said, "that there are real differences between North Korea and the small group of nations that have these weapons, including the sort of deterrence construct that existed between us and the Soviets, for example.
"We're just not sure that applies in this case. I don't think the president wants to take that chance," he said.
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