North Korea's Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Program

Abstract

North Korea has made recent advancements in its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Since Kim Jong-un came to power in 2012, North Korea has conducted over 80 ballistic missile test launches. In 2016, North Korea conducted 2 nuclear weapons tests and 26 ballistic missile flight tests on a variety of platforms. In 2017, North Korea test launched 18 ballistic missiles (with 5 failures), including 2 launches in July and another in November that many ascribe as ICBM tests (intercontinental ballistic missiles). Most recently, North Korea tested short-range ballistic missiles on May 4 and 9. It last conducted a nuclear test in September 2017. In April 2018, Kim Jong Un said that nuclear and ICBM testing was no longer necessary. U.N. Security Council resolutions ban all ballistic missile tests by the DPRK.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 06, 2019
Accession Number
AD1092444

Entities

People

  • Mary Beth D. Nikitin

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Department Of Defense
  • Fissile Materials
  • Intelligence Community
  • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
  • Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles
  • Materials
  • Medium Range Ballistic Missiles
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Materials
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Rocket Engines
  • Rockets
  • Short Range Ballistic Missiles
  • Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles
  • Theater Ballistic Missiles
  • United States

Readers

  • International Relations, focusing on Korea-Africa and North Korea-South Korea relations, and Nigeria-Latin American Relations.
  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Seismology