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Source: Getty

In The Media

Can North Korea Control Its Nuclear Weapons?

Preventing an inadvertent nuclear disaster on the Korean Peninsula will depend not only on Kim Jong Un upgrading his nuclear software but on the United States better understanding the choices and circumstances that have driven North Korea’s nuclear posture.

Link Copied
By Ankit Panda
Published on Nov 25, 2020

Source: Wall Street Journal

As Americans mark Thanksgiving this year amid the pandemic, North Korea will be recalling a special anniversary of its own. On Nov. 28, 2017, dictator Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of the largest missile ever flight-tested by the world’s last Stalinist country. Called the Hwasong (or “Mars”) 15, the missile showed that North Korea is capable of striking any part of the continental U.S.—from Los Angeles to New York—with a thermonuclear weapon.

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This article was originally published in the Wall Street Journal.

About the Author

Ankit Panda

Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Ankit Panda is the Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

    Recent Work

  • Commentary
    If Trump Wants to Meet Kim Again, He’s Got One Big Opportunity in Early 2026

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  • Paper
    Pursuing Stable Coexistence: A Reorientation of U.S. Policy Toward North Korea

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Ankit Panda
Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Ankit Panda
Nuclear PolicyArms ControlEast AsiaNorth Korea

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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