For the Record': Why North Korea's Recent Tests May Pose a Major Threat to America

North Korea launched a long-range missile Sunday as the isolated nation continues to work toward technology that would allow it to strike the U.S. mainland.

Sunday’s test follows a Jan. 6 detonation of what North Korea claimed was a hydrogen bomb. Many Western experts downplayed the report, saying that the blast was much smaller than a typical hydrogen bomb.

However, Dr. Peter Pry of the Congressional Electromagnetic Pulse Commission told TheBlaze TV's For the Record that those results may be an indication that the North Koreans are working toward an EMP attack against the United States, rather than a traditional nuclear strike.

An EMP can be triggered by detonating a nuclear weapon above the earth’s atmosphere, sending a pulse of electromagnetic energy down to the ground. That pulse can destroy many common electronics and potentially knock the power grid offline for a year or more.

Pry told For the Record that a smaller explosion can actually have a more powerful EMP effect if it is designed to be a so-called “super EMP” weapon.

You can learn more about EMP and the threat it poses to America from the all-new upcoming For the Record episode “Lights Out.” It premieres Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 9:00 p.m. ET on TheBlaze TV.