In a Sep. 28, 2010 photo released by Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service, delegates clap in unison during the ruling Workers' Party representatives meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea.
AP Photo

Commentary and Critique: North Korea

Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Summer 2012

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security; Managing the Atom; Science, Technology, and Public Policy

Olli Heinonen – Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

"On March 22, 2011, North Korea's official news agency, KCNA, portrayed Libya's decision to give up its nuclear weapons as a mistake that opened the country to NATO intervention following its domestic Arab Spring uprising. Such conclusions drawn by North Korea make an already difficult case to engage North Korea to give up its nuclear weapon deterrence that much harder. At the same time, the alternative of disengagement will in all likelihood bring about greater problems." ('The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime Challenged," Presentation. Pacific Basin Conference. March 22, 2012)

John Park – Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

"The U.S., South Korea and Japan are likely to expand the development of their missile defense capabilities as a result of North Korea's missile launch. North Korea's 1998 long-range missile test sparked a significant increase in Japanese military spending on missile defense. It was also the key event that cleared the way in the U.S. Senate for deploying the national missile defense system we have today. The 2006 missile test contributed to another round of military developments in the region. Going forward, there will be more joint military exercises and coordination among U.S. allies to prepare for future North Korean missile tests." ("What Does North Korea’s Ballistic Missile Test Tell Us About The Reclusive Country?" Interview.  United States Institute of Peace. April 2012)

Graham Allison – Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

"Recently, the U.S. and North Korea came to an agreement on the temporary suspension of North Korea's uranium enrichment program in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of nutritional aid. But the U.S. has constantly expressed that it 'won't buy the same horse twice'….Personally, I am not opposed to buying the same horse twice. Rather, I support it. North Korea is a failed state with extortionist and extremist tendencies. When dealing with that kind of opponent, it's right to buy the same horse twice in order to avoid crises." ("Gold Standard for Nuclear Security," Interview. Korea Joonang Daily. March 21, 2012)

Steven E. Miller – Director, International Security Program

"Today the NPT regime is widely regarded as a system in distress. It is commonly described as troubled, jeopardized, derailed, unraveling—eroding under the pressure of unresolved compliance crises, inadequate enforcement, diplomatic friction and distrust, spreading nuclear technology, and member-state dissatisfaction…This set of concerns is not merely hypothetical or conceptual but is given life by the protracted and unsuccessful efforts to cope with the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran." ("Nuclear Collisions: Discord, Reform & the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime," Paper.  Academy of Arts and Sciences. April 2012)

David Nusbaum – Research Fellow, International Security Program, Project on Managing the Atom

"In talks with the United States late in February, North Korea agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment in a specific facility at Yongbyon and to initiate a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests…. The international community needs to be aware of the diversion risks during suspension of enrichment….Dealing with, and avoiding proliferation risks from, suspended nuclear enrichment facilities will be an important part of international nonproliferation efforts in upcoming months — not only in North Korea, but in Iran and possibly elsewhere." ("Is Suspension the Solution?" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, April 12, 2012.)

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