The following analysis by internationally respected scholar and former South Korean official Chung-in Moon has just been published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
Professor Chung-in Moon writes: “In an address to the Workers’ Party Congress on May 7, Kim Jong-un told his audience that North Korea was “a responsible nuclear weapon state” that would not use nuclear weapons—”unless its sovereignty is encroached upon by any aggressive hostile forces with nukes.” He pledged to “strive for global denuclearization”—but he emphasized the continuation of the “,” a policy that seeks simultaneous development of North Korea’s economy and its nuclear programs. Kim’s remarks can be seen as an outright rejection of international calls for Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons.
“Over the past seven years, while six-party talks have been derailed, North Korea has strengthened its nuclear arsenal. The North is believed to have amassed nuclear materials steadily, and is now estimated by some sources to possess about 10 nuclear warheads. Pyongyang conducted a fourth nuclear test in January. It possesses a wide variety of delivery vehicles, which range from short-range Scud-type missiles to intermediate-range Nodong and Musudan missiles to—perhaps—submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Pyongyang is close to developing intercontinental ballistic missiles and claims to have made progress miniaturizing and diversifying its nuclear warheads as well….
For the remainder and conclusion of this important article, please go to: http://thebulletin.org/north-koreas-nuclear-weapons-what-now#wt