--- description: BEIJING — North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un has claimed his country has developed a hydrogen bomb, a significant step forward from the less powerful... title: Kim Jong Un Claims North Korea Has Hydrogen Bomb image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt180f922a1151cfa6/698874cdf887dc5239e93af1/kim-jong-un-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Kim Jong Un Claims North Korea Has Hydrogen Bomb by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2015 11:42 AM CUT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, Dec. 10, 2015. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, Dec. 10, 2015.KCNA/Reuters by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2015 11:42 AM CUT BEIJING — North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has claimed his country has developed a hydrogen bomb, a significant step forward from the less powerful atomic bomb. The official Korea Central News Agency reported that Kim made the comments as he toured the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site, which marks the feats of his late father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung. The work of Kim Il Sung “turned \[North Korea\] into a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant \[atomic\] bomb and \[hydrogen\] bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation,” KCNA quoted Kim Jong Un as saying…. [**Read more from our partners at NBC News**](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-claims-country-has-hydrogen-bomb-n477511?cid=par-time%5F20151210 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4144117/north-korea-hydrogen-bomb/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4144117/north-korea-hydrogen-bomb/"},"headline":"Kim Jong Un Claims North Korea Has Hydrogen Bomb","datePublished":"2015-12-10T11:42:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:15:32.666Z","description":"BEIJING — North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un has claimed his country has developed a hydrogen bomb, a significant step forward from the less powerful...","url":"https://time.com/4144117/north-korea-hydrogen-bomb/","keywords":["North Korea"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt180f922a1151cfa6/698874cdf887dc5239e93af1/kim-jong-un-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt180f922a1151cfa6/698874cdf887dc5239e93af1/kim-jong-un-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site","caption":"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site","creditText":"KCNA/Reuters","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/4144117/north-korea-hydrogen-bomb/","name":"Kim Jong Un Claims North Korea Has Hydrogen Bomb"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Will Kim Jong Un's Favorite Band Win China Over?","description":"Kim Jong-un could be sending the all-female Moranbong Band to get on China's good side before a U.N. human rights meeting this week.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/W9RUJMpe/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-09T23:04:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/W9RUJMpe.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4144117/north-korea-hydrogen-bomb/","duration":"PT47S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4144117/north-korea-hydrogen-bomb/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```