--- description: North Korea said it could kill everyone in Manhattan and burn the city “down to ashes” by mounting a hydrogen bomb on a ballistic missile. title: North Korea Says Its Hydrogen Bomb Could Wipe Out Manhattan image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfaf651987e8aa44/69888acc3c16390d3a45c6b7/kim-jong-un-north-korea-manhattan.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # North Korea Says Its Hydrogen Bomb Could Wipe Out Manhattan  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2016 3:45 PM CUT  North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un waves from a balcony towards participants of a mass military parade at Kim Il-Sung square to mark the 70th anniversary of its ruling Worker's Party of Korea on October 10, 2015 in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un waves from a balcony towards participants of a mass military parade at Kim Il-Sung square to mark the 70th anniversary of its ruling Worker's Party of Korea on October 10, 2015 in Pyongyang, North Korea.ChinaFotoPress—2015 ChinaFotoPress  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2016 3:45 PM CUT North Korea on Sunday said it [could kill everyone in Manhattan and burn the city “down to ashes”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia%5Fpacific/north-korea-claims-it-could-wipe-out-manhattan-with-a-hydrogen-bomb/2016/03/13/3834cd54-e919-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7%5Fstory.html?tid=sm%5Ftw "undefined") by mounting a hydrogen bomb on a ballistic missile. The claim came from a report by North Korea’s state-run outlet, [_DPRK Today_](http://www.dprktoday.com/index.php?type=2&no=9471 "undefined"), which cited a nuclear scientist named Cho Hyong Il, according to the Washington _Post_. “Our hydrogen bomb is much bigger than the one developed by the Soviet Union,” the report said. “If this H-bomb were to be mounted on an inter-continental ballistic missile and fall on Manhattan in New York City, all the people there would be killed immediately and the city would burn down to ashes.” Many experts doubt the country’s ability to launch a long-range missile that could hit the continental United States. North Korea, under the rule of Kim Jong-un, last week [threatened nuclear strikes on the U.S. and South Korea](http://time.com/4249155/north-korea-threatens-nuke-strikes/ "undefined") and was hit with more sanctions after a nuclear test and rocket launch this year, the Associated Press reported. \[[_Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia%5Fpacific/north-korea-claims-it-could-wipe-out-manhattan-with-a-hydrogen-bomb/2016/03/13/3834cd54-e919-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7%5Fstory.html?tid=sm%5Ftw "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4256836/north-korea-manhattan-hydrogen-bomb/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4256836/north-korea-manhattan-hydrogen-bomb/"},"headline":"North Korea Says Its Hydrogen Bomb Could Wipe Out Manhattan","datePublished":"2016-03-13T15:45:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:21:23.552Z","description":"\"The city would burn down to ashes\"","url":"https://time.com/4256836/north-korea-manhattan-hydrogen-bomb/","keywords":["North Korea"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfaf651987e8aa44/69888acc3c16390d3a45c6b7/kim-jong-un-north-korea-manhattan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfaf651987e8aa44/69888acc3c16390d3a45c6b7/kim-jong-un-north-korea-manhattan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kim-Jong-Un-north-korea-manhattan","caption":"PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA - OCTOBER 10: (CHINA OUT) North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un waves from a balcony towards participants of a mass military parade at Kim Il-Sung square to mark the 70th anniversary of its ruling Worker's Party of Korea on October 10,","creditText":"ChinaFotoPress—2015 ChinaFotoPress","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4256836/north-korea-manhattan-hydrogen-bomb/","name":"North Korea Says Its Hydrogen Bomb Could Wipe Out Manhattan"}}]}] ```