Tremor: 6.3 Magnitude : "Hostile", "Dangerous"

"[It is not yet clear exactly what nuclear weapon design was tested.] But based on the seismic signature, the yield of this test definitely is an order of magnitude higher than the yields of the previous tests."
"[Current information did not definitively indicate that a thermonuclear weapon had been tested] but it appears to be a likely possibility at this point."
Nuclear weapons expert Catherine Dill

"Though we cannot verify the claim, [North Korea] wants us to believe that it can launch a thermonuclear strike now, if it is attacked."
"Importantly, [North Korea] will also want to test this warhead, probably at a larger yield, to demonstrate this capability."
Adam Mount, senior fellow, Center for American Progress 

State media showed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspecting what it said was a hydrogen bomb  
Reuters/KCNA

The first statement is in the realm of cautious affirmation, the second one was presciently informed. The expectation of intelligence circulating both doubt and alarm from all points of the compass has, it would appear without equivocation, been realized. The indomitable Kim Jong-Un's administration thoughtfully released state photographs of Himself inspecting what the North describes as a new "super-explosive" hydrogen bomb to be fitted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Both a bomb of this level of sophistication and a missile of such range and capability have been considered out of the range of possibility for North Korean scientific technologists to attain to, just yet. Foreign intelligence has felt fairly confident in stating it would take another year or more for the North to achieve such an ambitious milestone. So, surprise, one and all, the achievement is now a startling reality.

Not only did North Korea release photographs with a 'purported' thermonuclear weapon, but the language employed in the accompanying statement signalled Pyongyang's preparedness to conduct its sixth nuclear weapons test, critical to North Korean ambitions in completing the national aspiration of achieving an arsenal of nuclear ICBMs capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. And just incidentally overflying [possibly even landing short on] Canada.

The anniversary of North Korea's national founding would be the date of the test, experts felt confident in predicting. But North Korea is nothing if not unpredictable, volatile and cranky. Kim's trip to his Nuclear Weapons Institute for the inspection of the latest treasure, an H-bomb with "super explosive power" represented yet another crowning achievement for a megalomaniac tyrannizing a country whose people have no recourse to considering whether they approve of becoming atomic-bait.

Each time Pyongyang proudly presents the world with the reality of its achievements, the world reels back in astonishment at the speed with which its scientists have managed to solve design problems to produce weapons systems that will shortly be the equal of more advanced economies and war machinery of the world's leading munitions factories, the pride of their nations. The steadily growing arsenal of the rogue nation emphasizes its threat to global stability.

How to address the issue with a view to amending the situation is a conundrum that has bedevilled clever minds for decades. When at that time in the past, the solution might have been drastic, but well before the situation evolved to its current state of sinister threat that no one has an idea how to contain. One thing is beyond dispute: Kim Jong-Un is doing his grandfather and father proud. The hallowed North's Punggye-ri nuclear site on Sunday witnessed a "live-fire" episode.

"[The US has the ability to defend itself and allies South Korea and Japan; those commitments are] ironclad."
"Any threat to the United States or its territories - including Guam - or our allies will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming."
"[However, we hope for denuclearisation], because we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea". 
U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis