North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
is the tenth country to develop and most recent to openly test nuclear weapons., its arsenal comprises approximately 50 nuclear weapons and production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year. North Korea is also believed to have one of the world's largest chemical weapons stockpiles. North Korea is party to the Biological Weapons Convention, one of four UN members not to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the only country to announce withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
North Korea is the only country confirmed to conduct nuclear weapons tests in the 21st century, carrying out six underground tests at Punggye-ri from 2006 to 2017. It is believed the country developed boosted fission or thermonuclear weapons. The Korean People's Army Strategic Force operates intercontinental ballistic missiles, and shorter-range ballistic and cruise missiles, some for tactical use. North Korea is developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Its missile development is linked to its satellite program.
Posited motives for North Korean nuclear proliferation include the fall of communism, a wavering alliance with China, desire to deter and/or negotiate with the United States, or its domestic politics. Its program is closely tied to the Korean conflict, which partially stems from the lack of a peace treaty concluding the Korean War; South Korea hosted US nuclear weapons from 1958 to 1991, and pursued a domestic program from 1970 to 1981.
North Korea had developed nuclear technology since the 1960s, with supply from the Soviet Union. Despite joining the NPT in 1989, it failed to comply with International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, and triggered a 1993 diplomatic crisis by announcing its intent to withdraw from the NPT. The 1994 Agreed Framework with the United States paused withdrawal and briefly improved relations, but was never fully implemented. The framework broke down in 2003; North Korea expelled IAEA inspectors and announced immediate NPT withdrawal. The subsequent six-party talks continued until 2007 but made little progress. Its first test in 2006 was met with international sanctions. Subsequent nuclear and missile tests have been internationally provocative, leading to a crisis in 2017–2018. In 2024, North Korea signed a security treaty with Russia, gaining sanctions bypasses and potential technology transfer.
North Korea has also exported missiles to Egypt, Iran, Syria, and Pakistan, and assisted the construction of the Al Kibar reactor of the Syrian nuclear weapons program.
North Korea is widely believed to have a chemical weapons arsenal of up to 5,000 tons, including sarin and mustard gas. Kim Jong Un is widely believed to have ordered the 2017 assassination of Kim Jong-nam, which used the chemical nerve agent, VX. It is unclear if North Korea has an offensive biological weapons program, although it has the industrial capability for one.
History
North Korea showed an interest in developing nuclear weapons as early as the 1950s. The nuclear program can be traced back to about 1962, when North Korea committed itself to what it called "all-fortressization", which was the beginning of the hyper-militarized North Korea of today. In 1963, North Korea asked the Soviet Union for help in developing nuclear weapons, but was refused. The Soviet Union agreed to help North Korea develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, including the training of nuclear scientists. Later, China, after its nuclear tests, similarly rejected North Korean requests for help with developing nuclear weapons.Soviet engineers took part in the construction of the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center and began construction of an IRT-2000 research reactor in 1963, which became operational in 1965 and was upgraded to 8 MW in 1974. In 1979, North Korea began to build a second research reactor in Yongbyon, as well as an ore processing plant and a fuel rod fabrication plant.
In 1985 North Korea ratified the NPT but did not include the required safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency until 1992. In early 1993, while verifying North Korea's initial declaration, the IAEA concluded that there was strong evidence this declaration was incomplete. When North Korea refused the requested special inspection, the IAEA reported its noncompliance to the UN Security Council. In 1993, North Korea announced its withdrawal from the NPT, but suspended that withdrawal before it took effect.
Under the 1994 Agreed Framework, the U.S. government agreed to facilitate the supply of two light water reactors to North Korea in exchange for North Korean disarmament. Such reactors are considered "more proliferation-resistant than North Korea's graphite-moderated reactors", but not "proliferation proof". The Agreed Framework was undermined by a Republican Congress during Clinton's presidency, as Congress denounced the agreement with North Korea, imposed new sanctions on North Korea, and hindered the Clinton administration from providing the supplies to North Korea that were part of the Agreed Framework. Implementation of the Agreed Framework foundered, and in 2002 the Agreed Framework fell apart, with each side blaming the other for its failure. By 2002, Pakistan had admitted that North Korea had gained access to Pakistan's nuclear technology in the late 1990s.
Based on evidence from Pakistan, Libya, and multiple statements made by the DPRK government, the United States accused North Korea of noncompliance and halted oil shipments; North Korea later claimed its public confession of guilt had been deliberately misconstrued. By the end of 2002, the Agreed Framework was officially abandoned.
In 2003, North Korea again announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 2005, it admitted to having nuclear weapons but vowed to close the nuclear program.
On October 9, 2006, North Korea announced it had successfully conducted its first nuclear test. An underground nuclear explosion was detected, its yield was estimated as less than a kiloton, and some radioactive output was detected. On January 6, 2007, the North Korean government further confirmed that it had nuclear weapons.
On March 17, 2007, North Korea told delegates at international nuclear talks that it was preparing to shut down its main nuclear facility. The agreement was reached following a series of six-party talks, involving North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and the United States, which began in 2003. According to the agreement, a list of its nuclear programs would be submitted and the nuclear facility would be disabled in exchange for fuel aid and normalization talks with the United States and Japan. This was delayed from April due to a dispute with the United States over Banco Delta Asia, but on July 14, IAEA inspectors confirmed the shutdown of North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor and consequently North Korea began to receive aid. This agreement fell apart in 2009, following a North Korean satellite launch.
In April 2009, reports surfaced that North Korea has become a "fully fledged nuclear power", an opinion shared by International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. On May 25, 2009, North Korea conducted a second nuclear test, resulting in an explosion estimated to be between 2 and 7 kilotons. The 2009 test, like the 2006 test, is believed to have occurred at Mantapsan, Kilju County, in the north-eastern part of North Korea. This was found by an earthquake occurring at the test site.
In February 2012, North Korea announced that it would suspend uranium enrichment at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center and not conduct any further tests of nuclear weapons while productive negotiations involving the United States continue. This agreement included a moratorium on long-range missile tests. Additionally, North Korea agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to monitor operations at Yongbyon. The United States reaffirmed that it had no hostile intent toward the DPRK and was prepared to improve bilateral relationships, and agreed to ship humanitarian food aid to North Korea. The United States called the move "important, if limited", but said it would proceed cautiously and that talks would resume only after North Korea made steps toward fulfilling its promise. However, after North Korea conducted a long-range missile test in April 2012, the United States decided not to proceed with the food aid.
On February 11, 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey detected a magnitude 5.1 seismic disturbance, reported to be a third underground nuclear test. North Korea has officially reported it as a successful nuclear test with a lighter warhead that delivers more force than before but has not revealed the exact yield. Multiple South Korean sources estimated the yield was 6–9 kilotons, while the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources estimated the yield to have been 40 kilotons. However, the German estimate has since been revised to a yield equivalent of 14 kt when they published their estimations in January 2016.
On January 6, 2016, in North Korea, the U.S. Geological Survey detected a magnitude 5.1 seismic disturbance, reported to be a fourth underground nuclear test. North Korea claimed that this test involved a hydrogen bomb. This claim has not been verified. A "hydrogen bomb" could refer to several stages of fusion development, ranging from boosted fission devices to true thermonuclear weapons.
Within hours, many nations and organizations had condemned the test. Expert U.S. analysts do not believe that a hydrogen bomb was detonated. Seismic data collected so far suggests a 6–9 kiloton yield and that magnitude is not consistent with the power that would be generated by a hydrogen bomb explosion. "What we're speculating is they tried to do a boosted nuclear device, which is an atomic bomb that has a little bit of hydrogen, an isotope in it called tritium," said Joseph Cirincione, president of the global security firm Ploughshares Fund. The German source which estimates for all the North Korea's past nuclear test has instead made an initial estimation of 14 kt, which is about the same yield as its previous nuclear test in 2013. However, the yield estimation for January 2016 nuclear test was revised to 10 kt in the subsequent nuclear test from North Korea.
On February 7, 2016, roughly a month after the alleged hydrogen bomb test, North Korea claimed to have put a satellite into orbit around the Earth. Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe had warned North Korea to not launch the rocket, and if it did and the rocket violated Japanese territory, it would be shot down. Nevertheless, North Korea launched the rocket, leading the United States, Japan, and South Korea to criticize the launch. Despite North Korean claims that the rocket was for peaceful, scientific purposes, it has been heavily criticized as an attempt to perform an ICBM test under the guise of a satellite launch. China also criticized the launch, urging "the relevant parties" to "refrain from taking actions that may further escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula".
A fifth nuclear test occurred on September 9, 2016. This test yield is considered the highest among all five tests thus far, surpassing its previous record in 2013. The South Korean government said that the yield was about 10 kt despite other sources suggesting a yield. The same German source which has made estimation of all North Korea's previous nuclear tests suggested an estimation of a 25 kiloton yield. Other nations and the United Nations have responded to North Korea's ongoing missile and nuclear development with a variety of sanctions; on March 2, 2016, the UN Security Council voted to impose additional sanctions against North Korea.
In 2017, North Korea test-launched two ICBMs, the second of which had sufficient range to reach the continental United States. In September 2017, the country announced a further "perfect" hydrogen bomb test.
Until 2022, North Korea's stated policy position was that nuclear weapons "will never be abused or used as a means for preemptive strike", but if there is an "attempt to have recourse to military force against us" North Korea may use their "most powerful offensive strength in advance to punish them". This was not a full no first use policy. This policy changed in 2022 with a law approved by the Supreme People's Assembly, which states that in the case of an attack against the top leadership or the nuclear command and control system, nuclear attacks against the enemy would be launched automatically. Additionally, the new law indicates that if Kim Jong Un was killed, the authorization of nuclear strikes would pass to a senior official.
Since 2023, North Korea has taken a more transparent approach to its nuclear activities, signaling an expansion of its nuclear program. Leader Kim Jong Un unveiled facilities involved in weapons production, including centrifuge halls and small reactors, emphasizing plans to deploy large numbers of tactical nuclear weapons. North Korea is estimated to possess enough material for up to 90 warheads and has reportedly assembled around 50 nuclear weapons. These revelations have heightened international concerns over North Korea's capabilities and the potential threat to the U.S. mainland and its allies.