Title North Korea's development of a nuclear weapons strategy / Joseph S. Bermudez Jr

Published Washington, DC : US-Korea Institute at SAIS, 2015 ©2015

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Description 1 online resource (17 pages) Series North Korea's nuclear futures series North Korea's nuclear futures series Contents Introduction. -- North Korean thinking about nuclear strategy (1950-2015). -- Fatherland liberation war and reconstruction (1950-1960). -- Substituting chemical weapons for a nuclear deterrent (1950-1975). -- Nuclear weapons as political/diplomatic symbols (1976-1989). -- Strategy refined (1989-early 2000s). -- Assured retaliation emerges (early 200s-2014). -- Nuclear strategy in 2020 Summary For almost six decades, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) has pursued a nuclear program that has gradually developed in size, complexity and capabilities from a small scientific research effort into a comprehensive effort to produce nuclear weapons. At present, North Korea is estimated to possess an inventory of 10-16 nuclear weapons that could rapidly expand by 2020. As this nuclear program has evolved, the North Korean leadership and the Korean People's Army (KPA) have also gradually developed a nuclear strategy for deterrence that appears to have progressed from viewing these weapons as primarily political tools to deter an attack from the United States to operational strategic defensive weapons to inflict unacceptable losses upon attacking forces and assured retaliation, and possibly today, into viewing nuclear weapons as both strategic political weapons and for use in a range of strategic, operational and 'battlefield' (i.e., tactical) situations during wartime Bibliography Includes bibliographical references Notes This North Korea's Nuclear Futures Series was also made possible by support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Online resource; title from PDF cover page (38 North, viewed February 21, 2016) Subject Nuclear weapons -- Government policy -- Korea (North) Nuclear weapons -- Korea (North) -- Strategic aspects Military policy. Nuclear weapons -- Government policy. SUBJECT Korea (North) -- Military policy Subject Korea (North) Form Electronic book Author U.S.-Korea Institute (Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies), publisher.

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