The Orwellian dystopia that is North Korea announced on its very own state television Tuesday that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. While much skepticism still exists regarding this revelation, it does corroborate with reports that a magnitude 5.1 earthquake was felt near its test site — a town called Punggye-ri.

Keep in mind that this is the same nation that reported that their former leader and current leader’s father, Kim Jong-il, could control the weather, and once shot a 38-under-par round of golf (they also said that upon his death, magpies and bears showed up out of nowhere and mourned and cried at one of his many statues).

In the statewide proclamation, North Korea explained that they developed the high-powered weapon as a self-defense tool, and wouldn’t use it so long as there’s “no invasion of our autonomy”.

There’s currently only a handful of nations that have H-bombs in their arsenal: the United States, of course, and Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China.

Kim Jong-un’s country last tested a deadly nuclear device back in 2013.

If you were wondering how a government would go about developing such an explosive (which reacts through fusion, rather than fission, and is much more powerful than a standard atomic bomb), watch the following video (via Foxtrot Alpha):

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see about whether this is another bluff or not.

This from NPR:

Some experts’ very early assessment was that North Korea’s device may not have been a true hydrogen bomb, and might instead have been a simpler fission device that had been “boosted.”

Regardless of the nature of the test, if confirmed it could strain North Korea’s relations with China, its closest ally. In September, the Chinese foreign minister urged the Pyongyang government not to do anything that could increase regional tensions.

UPDATE:

And they’re not the only ones. Australia and France have also expressed the same displeasure.