But it is possible that by “hydrogen bomb”, North Korea was referring to a boosted fission device that contains hydrogen, Acton says. This is a conventional fission bomb that contains a small quantity of the hydrogen isotopes tritium and deuterium, which fuse to release extra neutrons that greatly boost the fission reaction and explosive yield.

Experts have speculated for years that North Korea might be working on such a device. Boosted devices are smaller yet can be just as powerful as fission bombs, making them more suitable for use in missile warheads. The research involved in developing them is also a step along the way to developing thermonuclear weapons.

This is the key point. Go back over my previous posts and you will see the reference to a characterization of North Koreans as “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.”  Well, they are shooting straighter.

We have all heard the mantra, “This is China’s problem.”  In fact we have heard Trump in the chorus.

What the consensus misses is that  the same behavioral feaures that make nuclear weapons a terrible threat to the U.S.make the same, or worse, threat to China.  How big does the blast have to be if North Korea wants to ensure that China stays out of Korea?

Marco Rubio has proposed an additional trillion dollars in U.S. defense spending over a decade.  Now, interestingly enough, at the January 28, 2015, Rubio also stated that the “mistake” that was made with North Korea should not be made with Iran.  Rubio should be pressed on the point.  What would Rubio have done different in North Korea if he had been President in, say, 2000?