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North Korea's case for nuclear weapons

Asia Times - North Korea's case for nuclear weapons

By Erich Marquardt

On October 21, 1994, the United States and North Korea signed the US-DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) Agreed Framework, an understanding in which Pyongyang accepted a proposal to scrap its development of plutonium-based nuclear-energy facilities in exchange for normalization of ties with Washington, in addition to other benefits such as internationally funded twin light-water reactors and shipments of heavy oil. As of now, the Agreed Framework is in tatters; Pyongyang blames the death of the agreement on Washington, and Washington blames it on Pyongyang.
But which party is more responsible for the unraveling may not be as important as the following questions: Will North Korea follow up on its nuclear rhetoric and become a nuclear-armed state? And how will other regional powers, such as the United States and Japan, react to a nuclear-armed North Korean state?
At present, it is not exactly clear whether North Korea is a nuclear-armed state. Various North Korean officials have ambiguously stated in the past that the country already possesses such weapons; however, there has been no concrete public pronouncement from Pyongyang that it does indeed possess nuclear arms. Regardless, what is clear is that Pyongyang has been developing the components and resources capable of creating nuclear arms. International observers argue that it will be only a short time, possibly months, before North Korea develops its first functional nuclear device. Furthermore, Pyongyang already possesses the rockets necessary to launch a nuclear weapon at neighboring states, such as its historical nemesis, Japan; this capability puts US troops at risk, as Washington maintains large troop contingents in Japan and South Korea.

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