North Korea claims to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, and the news correlated to a major Asian stock markets dip … with the exception of China. China’s main stock indexes, the Shenzhen Composite and Shanghai Composite closed with 2.605 percent and 2.27 percent gains respectively.
China is the one key ally that North Korea has in the world. North Korea is highly dependent on Chinese aid, which, according to The Washington Free Beacon, “more than doubled from $2.68 billion in 2009 to nearly $6.96 billion in 2014, undermining sanctions imposed by the United States and other nations in response to nuclear and missile tests and other military provocations, according to South Korean government officials.”
In spite of North Korean state media’s assertion that domestically-developed thermonuclear warhead caused a 5.1 magnitude earthquake, White House spokesman Josh Earnest revealed otherwise. White House intelligence assets informed Earnest that evidence was “not consistent with North Korean claims of a successful hydrogen bomb test,” according to The Washington Post.
Even though Chinese markets had a good day, it is thought that North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are increasingly causing friction between the two countries. According to the Korean Yonhap News Agency, Chinese officials were not informed beforehand about North Korea’s nuclear test and, as a result, the North Korean ambassador in Beijing is demanding an explanation from him.
In contrast to the gains made by Chinese stocks, “the [Korean] Kospi down 5.10 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,925.43. The [Japanese] Nikkei 225 was down 182.68 points, or 0.99 percent, at 18,191.32, while the [Australian] ASX 200 saw a 61.3-point loss, or a 1.18 percent fall, to 5,123.13.” according to CNBC.
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