Nuclear North Korea: 6 ways it differs from Iran

Are there lessons from the recently negotiated agreement to scale down Iran's nuclear program that can be used in North Korea? Perhaps, but the two differ substantially. Some questions  – and answers – on the North Korean and Iranian programs:

3. How far has North Korea gone in its weapons program?

Ng Han Guan/AP/File
North Korean military hardware take part in a mass military parade in Kim Il Sung Square to celebrate 100 years since the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang, North Korea in April, 2012.

North Korea is believed, according to CIA and other intelligence estimates, to have built at least a dozen nuclear devices and has conducted three underground nuclear tests, in 2006, 2009, and 2013. North Korea is believed to be preparing for a fourth test. North Korea’s facilities for building warheads with highly enriched uranium are in several locations in addition to the Yongbyon complex, making them difficult to find and destroy. The North’s nuclear program is now seen as intrinsic to its national identity. The constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – the North’s official name – was amended last year to state that the country was a “nuclear-armed state.”

North Korea is also developing long-range Taepodong missiles that are theoretically capable of carrying warheads as far as Hawaii, Alaska, or even the west coast of the US. However, experts doubt if North Korea is capable of miniaturizing a warhead to fit on the tip of a missile. In December 2012 it launched a Taepodong missile that put a satellite into orbit after two previous failed attempts. Military analysts say the purpose of this exercise was to test the capabilities of the Taepodong for firing long-range warheads that could carry nuclear, biological or chemical materials. 

3 of 6

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.