The Most Urgent North Korean Nuclear Threat Isn’t What You Think
Toby Dalton | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
North Korea’s resumed nuclear missile testing generates understandable hand-wringing in Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington. Such tests demonstrate Pyongyang’s growing prowess with nuclear weaponry and are a frightening reminder that a crisis on the Korean Peninsula could erupt at any time. Yet, as troubling as more concerned about the likelier possibility of North Korea selling nuclear and missile technology to countries in the Middle East.
Biden to Meet With South Korean President Moon Next Month
Andrew Jeong | Wall Street Journal
President Biden will meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in late next month in Washington, a spokesman for Seoul’s presidential office said, in what will be their first face-to-face meeting since the inauguration. North Korea is likely to be high on the agenda, a Seoul official said, while other topics could include climate change, cooperation on Covid-19 vaccines and teaming up to boost the supply of semiconductors amid a global shortage. A spokesman for Mr. Moon expressed hope that the summit could help advance the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Iran Demands U.S. Identify Sanctions to Be Lifted to End Impasse
Jonathan Tirone and Patrick Sykes| Bloomberg
The U.S. needs to explicitly state what sanctions it’s willing to lift to unblock talks to revive the stricken 2015 nuclear accord, Iran’s lead negotiator said on Thursday, with diplomacy struggling to bridge deep differences after three rounds of meetings in a little over a week. Iran in response would state the steps it’s prepared to take to scale back its nuclear activity, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on the sidelines of the latest round of negotiations with world powers in Vienna.
Biden Nominates Longtime Expert as Nuclear Warhead Chief
Aaron Mehta | Defense News
Jill Hruby, an engineer with decades of nuclear experience, has been selected by President Joe Biden to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration. The NNSA is a semiautonomous agency located within the Department of Energy. It has oversight on the technical development and production of America’s nuclear warheads. A mechanical engineer by trade, Hruby worked at the Sandia National Laboratories in 1983, retiring in 2017 as the director. After retirement, she served as the Sam Nunn distinguished fellow at the Nuclear Threat Initiative from 2018 to 2019 and joined its board in 2019. She also served as a member of the Defense Science Board, the NNSA’s Defense Programs Advisory Committee, and the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on International Security and Arms Control. If confirmed, Hruby would become the second woman to lead the NNSA, directly following Lisa Gordon-Hagerty.
UK Official: American Warhead Decision Won’t Impact British Nuclear Plans
Aaron Mehta | Defense News
The United Kingdom’s plan to increase its nuclear warhead stockpile will not be impacted should the U.S. scrap a new submarine-launched nuclear warhead, a British Ministry of Defence official said Tuesday. “The number of warheads we need for the future is not determined by anything which the U.S. is doing on W93,” Angus Lapsley, the MoD’s director general for strategy and international issues, said during an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Navy SM-6 Missile Will Attempt to Swat Down a Mock Hypersonic Weapon
Joseph Trevithick | The Drive
The Missile Defense Agency, together with the U.S. Navy, plan to test an SM-6 missile against an “advanced maneuvering threat,” a term that has been used in relation to unpowered hypersonic boost-glide vehicles, later this year. The Pentagon says that unspecified versions of the SM-6 have already demonstrated some degree of capability against these types of weapons, examples of which Russia and China have already begun putting to service. A new variant of the SM-6, the Block IB, is already under development and will itself be able to reach hypersonic speeds.