North Korea And Nuclear Missile Development

The two Koreas have been at war since the 1950’s. Since then, the two nations have been in a state of military stalemate, followed by the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1954, which has lasted until now, in the two divided Koreas.

Unfortunately, despite the concerted efforts of the United States of America and South Korea to bring about unification, threats of an imminent war have not seemed to dissipate with time. North Korea remains hostile to unification and disarmament and continues to make nuclear threats that could potentially endanger the world.

An example of this threat can be directly observed in Kim Jong-Un’s televised address to the world, as at the beginning of 2017, he said that North Korea is very close to testing long-range missiles, which have the capability of carrying new warheads to the United States of America. According to the leader of North Korea, research and development of military arms is rapidly progressing and the inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launch is in its final stage of development. North Korea is now, in Kim Jong-Un’s point of view, a “military power of the East that cannot be touched by even the strongest enemy.”

North Korea’s advancing nuclear program is, without a doubt, a strong and pressing concern for the peace and stability of the international community. Despite numerous efforts to shut down its nuclear program, North Korea has conducted multiple nuclear bomb tests, five to be exact, in 2006, 2009, 2013, as well as in January and September of 2016. Experts are unclear on the full yield potential of the bombs, but it is clear that the yield is growing to about 10 and 30 kilotons. If these most recent bomb yields are confirmed, this would prove to be North Korea’s strongest nuclear test in its history.

Undoubtedly, it is in the interest of the leader of North Korea to exaggerate the country’s strength in regards to nuclear power, and there are experts who remain skeptical on whether Kim Jong-Un has achieved in creating a warhead small enough to go on reliable and accurate intercontinental ballistic missiles. However, North Korea’s missile and nuclear test programs are continuously developing, which alarms and angers its surrounding countries. Despite the fact that US, Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea have participated in multiple six-party talks with North Korea, none of these have deterred Pyongyang in regards to disarmament.

Following the most recent ballistic missile launch at 22:55 GMT on February 11, 2017, a US Defense Secretary mentioned that any more use of nuclear arms by North Korea would be met with “effective and overwhelming” response, followed by a deployment of a US missile defense system later this year in South Korea. Fortunately, despite recent developments, experts firmly believe that North Korea’s technology has not developed to a point that it could carry out a nuclear attack against the US, despite North Korea’s public claims.

Related