25,000 U.S. troops wait for next step in Korea

Luke Skywalker · Jan 7, 2016

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[h=4]25,000 U.S. troops wait for next step in Korea[/h]The Pentagon has not elaborated on whether U.S. troops have been placed on higher alert.

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Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association points to weaknesses in the North Korean weapons program that must be overcome before nuclear tests pose threat to the United States. (Jan. 6) AP

The WC-135W Constant Phoenix aircraft collects particulate and gaseous debris from the accessible regions of the atmosphere in support of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.(Photo: U.S. Air Force)

WASHINGTON —*A bomb test that North Korea conducted Wednesday has leaders worldwide on high alert.
While officials in Pyongyang say they successfully detonated*a hydrogen bomb, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said initial analyses show no evidence to support that.
North Korea's actions were a "flagrant violation of international law," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a phone call with South Korea's defense minister,*Han Min-koo. Both sides pledged to "coordinate appropriate alliance responses to these provocations," according to a Defense Department release.
The Pentagon has not elaborated on whether troops serving under U.S. Forces Korea will be affected or whether U.S. troops have been placed on higher alert.
USA TODAY
U.N. Security Council condemns North Korea nuclear test

Almost 25,000 U.S. troops are in South Korea, according to Defense Department data. About 16,400 are soldiers, 330 are sailors,140 are Marines, and more than 8,000 are airmen. Almost 880 military dependents and about 3,200 Defense Department civilian employees also are stationed there.
The Army has had a presence on the peninsula since 1945, before the Korean War began in 1950.
"We continue to have airmen stationed on the Korean Peninsula who are there full time who are ready for whatever might happen, and they are ready every day," Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force chief of staff, said in August. In 2013, B-2 stealth bombers flew directly into South Korean airspace as a warning to North Korea.
USA TODAY
Monitors will determine whether N. Korea's nuke blast is a hydrogen bomb

The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed a 5.1 seismic event at the time North Korea claimed it tested a hydrogen bomb.
As part of U.S. analysis of evidence related to the event,*Air Force will deploy a radiation-detecting aircraft. The WC-135 Constant Phoenix, commissioned in 1947 under the Army Air Forces, will soon determine if North Korea's claims are legitimate, a defense official told The Washington Post.
The Air Force Technical Applications Center, based at*Patrick Air Force Base*on Cape Canaveral, Fla., is responsible for detecting nuclear explosions around the globe, including underground, underwater, in the atmosphere or in space*for compliance with international treaties. It has a network of sensors and monitoring stations around the world.
USA TODAY
White House skeptical of North Korea's hydrogen bomb claims

"Our sensor system did detect an underground disturbance in the vicinity of the North Korea reported nuclear test," said Susan Romano, the center's director of public affairs. "That was based on seismic activity. Further analysis most assuredly will be done.
"We cannot say the explosion was nuclear in nature," she said. "We're not saying it was nuclear at all."
For the first time since 1980, the Air Force in October*re-activated five technical operations squadrons under the center to monitor activities from nuclear aggressors such as North Korea and Iran.
USA TODAY
H-bombs vs. A-bombs explained

The center doesn't have the capability to decipher whether the blast was nuclear or conventional, Romano said. But other steps and factors are being considered to determine the nature of the blast.
“Our seismic equipment did detect a disturbance underground in the vicinity of the purported event in North Korea," she said, describing that the system monitors seismic, hydro acoustics, space based assets and air collection samples. The seismic findings and analyzed data have been sent up the chain of command to national decision makers.
This makes*North Korea's fourth detonation test: North Korea conducted nuclear underground tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
USA TODAY
The Nuclear Club: who the 9 members are

“The world looks different from the peninsula,” Maj. Gen. Ted Martin, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, told Army Times during an interview last fall. “When you’re sitting here, … a good chunk of the Seoul metro area is in range of North Korean long-range artillery.”
Soldiers deployed to the peninsula are constantly on alert, Martin said at the time.
“We drill home to the soldiers all the time (that) this is not business as usual,” he said. “You must be ready to fight tonight.”
Contributing: Phillip Swarts, Air Force Times; R. Norman Moody, Florida Today.*Follow Oriana Pawlyk*and Michelle Tan on Twitter: @Oriana0214*and*@MichelleTan32

South Koreans watch TV news Jan. 6, 2015, at Seoul Railway Station. The TV broadcast is reporting what North Korea called a successful hydrogen bomb test.*(Photo: Jeon Heon-Kyun, European Pressphoto Agency)

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25,000 U.S. troops wait for next step in Korea

Luke Skywalker

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