North Korea's weapons program is something that has stoked fear in the hearts of all americans in recent years. More and more reports come out seemingly ever couple of months that North Korea has made new developments in its nuclear weapons program. This concerns the american people greatly. Currently there are nine countries that have nuclear warheads, they are the United States, Russia, France, Great Britain, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. All of those countries with the exception of one have at the very least a mutual association with the United States. Whether it be from an actual alliance, Great Britain and France, a major trade partner, China, or simply a “respect” for what our country is capable of militarily, Russia, the only country on this dangerous list who hates america and wants nothing to do with them is North Korea. This is why so many americans pay attention to the news when North Korea comes up as a headline. People wonder could Kim Jong-Un really be crazy enough to send a nuke to our country starting what would inevitably be a nuclear war involving all the world's greatest powers in one fight that could very well change the fabric of this planet. Luckily the answer to this question seems to have be trending down the direction of no, but things can always change in an instant so with that being said let's take a look at North Korea's current nuclear program.
First lets see where this program first started. In 1985 North Korea signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT for short. The NPT was a treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology and instead promote cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and further the goal of nuclear disarmament and eventually complete disarmament. However despite joining the treaty North Korea still wanted to harness nuclear energy and began building nuclear power plants. Fast forward to 1993 The International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA for short demands North Korea to allow inspectors access to two nuclear waste storage facilities. North Korea initially declines the inspectors access and even threatens to leave NPT. This is where the first suspicions of North Korea's nuclear program were founded. Countries started to believe that they may be trying to construct nuclear weapons which would be a violation of the NPT and open the country up to sanctions by the other world powers. However North Korea eventually back down and complies with the policies of the treaty.
The following year North Korea enters an agreement with the United States. North Korea pledges to freeze and eventually its old graphite-moderated nuclear reactors in exchange for international aid to build two new light-water nuclear reactors. Graphite-moderated reactors had fallen out of favor in the world due to the terrible accidents that occurred using the reactors. The two most well known nuclear disasters involving a graphite-moderated reactor were the Windscale Fire and Chernobyl. The Windscale Fire was the worst nuclear disaster in Great Britain, the fire burned for 3 days and released radioactive contamination across the UK and Europe. The isotope that was particularly threatening was iodine-131 which was connected to thyroid cancer. It was estimated the the incident also led to 240 additional cancer cases. Chernobyl was infamously the worst nuclear disaster in the world happening in Ukraine. It was classified as a level 7 incident, the worst level there is, and resulted in the total abandonment of the city of Pripyat. To this day is it deemed unsafe to live in the city as scientists believe the city to be radioactive and unfit for human habitation for twenty thousand years. So as you can see the move to the more stable light-water reactors seemed like a good investment to North Korea.
Fast forward to January 2002 President George W. Bush labels North Korea, Iran and Iraq an “axis of evil” in his state of the union address “ by seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger”. Nine months later the Bush administration reveals that North Korea had been secretly operating a nuclear weapons program in violation of the 1994 agreement shortly after purchasing the new reactors. By January 2003 North Korea withdraws from the NPT officially. Come February the United States confirms that North Korea has reactivated a five-megawatt nuclear reactor capable of developing plutonium for weapons. By April of the same year North Korea officially declared it has nuclear weapons.
By 2005 North Korea, facing intense pressure from the rest of the world for violating the NPT, tentatively agrees to give up its entire nuclear program, including weapons. In exchange the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea are to provide energy assistance to North Korea as well as promote economic cooperation. Clearly further negotiations fell apart or countries did not provide the aid promised. The very next year 2006 North Korea test fires long range missiles much to the dismay of the UN security council who passes a resolution demanding North Korea to suspend their weapons program. By October of that same year North Korea announces they have successfully tested their first nuclear weapon. This prompts the UN's security council to impose a severe and broad array of sanctions on the country.
Early the following year North Korea agrees to close its main reactor in exchange for an aid package worth four hundred million dollars. The United States and Japan also agreed to discuss normalizing relations with the North Korean regime. The United States also agreed to begin removing North Korea off the list of terror-sponsoring states and lifting trade and financial sanctions. Negotiations began later that year, labeled the six party talks, between the United States, China, Japan, Russia, North Korea, and South Korea. The talks are located in Beijing and North Korea agrees to begin disabling its nuclear weapons facilities. North Korea then misses the deadline to begin the process of disabling the weapons facilities by the end of the year.
In 2008 Six party talks are again held in Beijing however talks breakdown due to North Korea's refusal to allow inspectors free reign at their nuclear facilities. By next year North Korea had successfully conducted its second nuclear weapons test. Once again the UN imposes more sanctions and condemns the country. By this time North Korea is public enemy number one amongst the free world as their constant insistence to produce nuclear weapons despite the disapproval by all world powers has conditioned the rest of the world to not only fear what North Korea is doing but also hate them. In 2010 reports come out that North Korea has a new nuclear enrichment facility. The following year US officials meet with North Korean officials in Geneva Switzerland in an effort to restart the six- party nuclear arms talks that broke down in 2008. In 2012 as a result of the negotiations started in Geneva North Korea agreed to a moratorium, a temporary prohibition of activity, on long range missile launchers and nuclear activity at the nation's major nuclear facility in exchange for food aid. However the following year North Korea announces that it will continue nuclear weapons testing and long range missile launches despite the United States defiance. North Korea declares the United States as the sworn enemy of the Korean people and vows all out action upon the United States. Soon after North Korea conducts its third nuclear weapons test and the first under Kim Jong-Un. Three weeks later the UN imposes for sanctions on North Korea. At this point North Korea's actions had started to become intolerable to the rest of the world and especially South Korea who viewed this matter as a threat to there national security. At this point a war seemed very possible at this point and after the next event war seemed almost inevitable.
In 2014 North Korea announces they are preparing for another nuclear test, the following day however tensions rise between North and South Korea as both countries fired hundreds of shells between the sea border of the two countries. Fighter jets were also scrambled by both sides to fly to the border. The following year North Korea claimed that they had the capabilities to strike the United States and would do so if they forced their hand. Weeks later North Korea announced that they had the ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons which is a key step in building nuclear missiles. However the United States doubted that North Korea had such capabilities. Later that year North Korea claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb and that they have added it to its nuclear arsenal, however once again the United States said they were not able to verify if the test did succeed.
In 2016 North Korea annoucned that it had miniature nuclear warheads that could fit on their ballistic missiles. Later that year North Korea announces that they have successfuly tested its nuclear warhead. According to the South Korean Meterological Administration the blast had an estimated explosive power of 10 kilotons. The following year in a televised address Kim Jong-Un claimed that North Korea was ready to test an intercontinental ballistic missile that would allow them to reach anywhere in the world. The United States respond by saying they would shot down any missles fired at themselves or their allies. The United States also deploys sea based radar equipment to detect any missle launches from North Korea. North Korea then claims that it has successfully tested its first ICBM that can reach anywhere in teh world, and threatens a nuclear strike on the “heart” of America if any attempt to remove Kim Jong-Un from power. North Korea then claims that the United States is “attempting to drive the korean pennisila to nuclear war” , the UN imposes additional sanctions on North Korea due to its IBCM test. North Koreas military begins examining an operational plan to attack territories around Guam in response to the new american president Donald Trumps response to North Korea saying that the United States would respond to any military action with “fire and fury the world has never seen”. As of 2018 North Korea has agreed to cease missile and nuclear weapon testing and is engaging in peace talks.