MORE ON KOREA – AT 11:52 A.M. ET:  North Korea is claiming that its new nuclear test was actually a test of a hydrogen bomb.  A hydrogen bomb can be made many times more powerful than a standard nuclear bomb, or fission bomb.  Both the United States and the Soviet Union started testing hydrogen bombs in the early 1950s.

Some experts are saying that the size of yesterday's North Korean blast would put it at the lower end of the hydrogen, or thermonuclear, bomb capability.  But he still have not seen definitive proof that the North Korean device was actually thermonuclear. 

The president will meet early this afternoon with his national security team.  The advance buzz is that the group will talk about dramatically increased sanctions on North Korea, although sanctions have never worked with that country.  From Yonhap, South Korea's leading news agency:

SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States agreed on Sunday to push for the most powerful sanctions on North Korea during their phone discussion following its sixth nuclear test, Seoul's foreign ministry here said.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had 25-minute talks to discuss countermeasures after North Korea earlier in the day conducted what it called a successful test of a hydrogen bomb that can be mounted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Kang told Tillerson of the importance of using maximum sanctions and pressure to induce North Korea to change its behavior and come to the dialogue table, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She stressed the urgency of the efforts to prevent North Korea from realizing its goal of nuclear armament.

Kang also said Seoul will consult with the U.S. about joint measures including a new resolution by the United Nations Security Council and the deployment of U.S. strategic military assets in South Korea, according to the foreign ministry.

Tillerson affirmed that the U.S. will place the strongest-ever sanctions on North Korea based on its alliance with South Korea.

Both emphasized the need to work together in taking future steps on North Korea and shared the results of their consultations with other countries on the issue.

They agreed to have further discussion in the course of bilateral and multilateral diplomatic occasions including a U.N. General Assembly meeting scheduled for later in the month, the ministry added.

COMMENT:  I'm not sure that quite does it.  I doubt if President Trump will simply settle for more sanctions.  Here is where his instinct for the dramatic takes hold.  I would not be surprised if he chose to surround North Korea with a "ring of steel," consisting of American warships, including missile-firing submarines.  I would not be shocked if he activated the two Iowa-class battleships that, by law, are maintained in a ready state, even though they are now being used as museum ships.  The 16-inch guns of those ships, which were used against North Korea during the Korean War, two generations ago, concentrate the mind wonderfully.  North Korea is on a peninsula, very vulnerable to bombardment from the sea.

Nor would I be surprised if Mr. Trump, following the example of Jack Kennedy, mobilized reserve units as a show of resolve.

Then there is the matter of North Korea's maritime activity – especially its exporting of technology to Iran.  Is there some way we can embargo North Korea, as we did Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962?  I don't know, but I'd love to see North Korean ships stopped and inspected for any military or nuclear items.

This could be the start of something big.

September 3, 2017