The Issue

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea, has been pursuing nuclear weapons for decades. This has led to  growing concern among Western countries and North Korea’s neighbors in East Asia. In September 2017, North Korea conducted its most powerful nuclear test yet.   Following the test, North Korea declared that the country had perfected its nuclear warhead design. However, analysts doubt that North Korea has the rocket technology to accurately deliver a nuclear weapon to the continental United States. Still, most analysts agree that North Korea has a reliable nuclear weapons capability to strike Japan and South Korea.

The UN Security Council, alongside many individual countries, has condemned the nuclear testing and used sanctions to try to convince North Korea’s leadership to give up its nuclear weapons. Despite these efforts, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, continues to pursue the ability to strike the country’s adversaries, mainly the United States, with a nuclear weapon. He is also determined to deter any initial conventional or nuclear attack by building a nuclear arsenal that could survive such a strike. Analysts believe that if Kim Jong-un gains these capabilities, dealing with the North Korean threat will become much more difficult for the United States and other countries. 

Hypothetical Decision Point

U.S. intelligence officials now believe, based on debris recovered from a recent North Korean satellite launch, that North Korea has the technology needed to reach the west coast of North America. The launch came days after Kim walked away from nuclear negotiations with the United States. Kim cited concerns over proposed inspections of its nuclear sites. The U.S. director of national intelligence has concluded that the launch means that the country is now capable of following through on past threats to fire nuclear-armed missiles at the United States. The United States has requested a meeting of the UN Security Council to present this new intelligence and discuss an international response to North Korea’s enhanced capabilities.