In early January 2016, front pages around the world carried numerous stories on Pyongyang’s hydrogen bomb test. The flurry of comments that followed the DPRK’s announcement that it had conducted a “hydrogen bomb test” highlighted several major issues, namely: the unpredictable nature of Kim Jong Un’s regime; the unanimous condemnation of Pyongyang for the provocative act and subsequent calls for punishment; doubts as to whether the tested device was really a thermonuclear one; and, finally, a fear of conflict escalation and a worry that the North Korean regime could provoke a war.

THE NORTH KOREANS’ MOTIVES

It is hard to