“Our great President Kim Il Sung has turned today’s DPRK into the powerful nuclear state that can make the loud blasting sound of the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb for the self-defense of the country’s autonomy and dignity,” the Rodong Sinmun quoted Kim Jong Un as saying on December 10. Nobody at the time saw this as a warning of the nation's fourth nuclear test in early 2016.

According to Kim Jong Un’s signed document, revealed right after the nuclear test, the order to conduct the first H-bomb test was directed on December 15, 2015, and the final order was given on January 3 to implement the test on January 6. January 6 is two days before Kim Jong Un’s birthday. He pushed ahead with the test despite international opposition. This clearly confirms Kim Jong Un’s intention to expand the nation’s nuclear capacity.