NewsTracker Answers for week of Jan. 11, 2016

Q: North Korea said last week that it had tested a hydrogen bomb, but initial seismic and other data indicated that the explosion was more likely to have been a far smaller atomic weapon. Where is North Korea?

Circle the area on this map


Q: North Korea said the nuclear bomb test was a response to U.S. “hostility,” but experts say it may more accurately reflect deteriorating relations with its main ally . . .

A. China

B. Japan

C. Russia

D. Vietnam


A. China is North Korea's largest trading partner and supplies most of its neighbor's oil and gas, as well as about half of its foreign aid.  But North Korea's fourth nuclear test signals its continuing defiance of the outside world — including China, which has long expressed displeasure with the program. 


Q: China joined the United States and other global powers in sharply condemning the North Korean tests. Which nation has tested the most nuclear weapons?

A. China

B. France

C. Soviet Union

D. United States


D. The United States conducted 1,032 tests since 1945, followed by the former Soviet Union with 715 tests. France conducted 198 tests, and China tested 45 warheads. Only North Korea has tested nuclear weapons in the 21st century. It is estimated the United States and Russia possess 93 percent of the world's nuclear warheads.


Q: Which nation occupied North Korea at the end of World War II?

A. China

B. Japan

C. Soviet Union

D. United States


C. Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. After the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was divided into two zones by the United States and the Soviet Union, with the north occupied by the Soviets and the south by the Americans.


Q: In 1950, the division of Korea lead to a war that killed more than one million civilians and soldiers. North and South Korea now are separated by the . . .

A. Armistice Fence

B. Demilitarized Zone

C. Great Wall

D. Thin Red Line


B. Korean War fighting ended July 27, 1953, with the signing of an armistice that created the Korean Demilitarized Zone which is 160 miles long and 2.5 miles wide. It cuts the Korean Peninsula in half and serves as the border between the rival states.