A Nuclear Dilemma--Korean War Deja Vu

Abstract

Leading up to or sometime during the Korean War conflict the US decided due to political and strategic reasons that they would not use nuclear weapons against North Korea--even as there was great concern that the North Koreans would push the US off the Korean peninsula. Moving the clock forward over 50 years President Bush in Dec 02 directed that the US would "field missile defense capabilities to protect the United States.." The Missile Defense Agency is currently spending close to $10B a year to field and refine a system that will defeat ballistic missile launches from North Korea. If North Korea chooses to launch a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile that our defensive systems engage and defeat, would we respond in kind? Or are the strategic and political factors that fed into the decision during the first Korean conflict the same today--thereby possibly negating the threat of US nuclear retaliation?

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 08, 2006
Accession Number
ADA448745

Entities

People

  • Trent A. Pickering

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Counter WMD
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Employment
  • Fire Control Systems
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • Nuclear Bombs
  • Nuclear Warfare
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Second World War
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Effects
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

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