Living With a Nuclear North Korea
Russia may make its nuclear threats in Ukraine, but North Korea couldn't be more clear. Its nuclear target is the United States. What do we do about it?
Despite seven decades American military and political engagement on the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang’s dynastic communist regime continues to challenge US policymakers as well as stability in East Asia.
The Biden administration has sought to mix diplomacy and deterrence, while cooperating with its allies in Seoul, Tokyo, and elsewhere to constrain North Korea’s nuclear threat. The results: like his father and grandfather, Kim Chong Un has continued to build his nuclear arsenal despite the costs to Pyongyang and the North Korean people.
70 years after the end of the Korean war, the question is obvious. Speaking at the World Affairs Council of Hilton Head, I discuss whether the past is prologue. Is Kim’s arsenal simply a fact we must live with, and if it is, what are the risks?