ASSESSMENTS

What the U.S. Would Use to Strike North Korea

Jan 4, 2017 | 09:06 GMT

This is the third installment of a five-part series examining the measures that could be taken to inhibit North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Editor's Note

This is the third installment of a five-part series that originally ran in May 2016 examining the measures that could be taken to inhibit North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The purpose of this series is not to consider political rhetoric or noninvasive means of coercion, such as sanctions. Rather, we are exploring the military options, however remote, that are open to the United States and its allies, and the expected retaliatory response from Pyongyang. Part four can be found here.

The United States has the tools to dismantle the North Korean nuclear program in a massive surprise strike. There are two huge unknowns, however, that prevent an accurate evaluation of the likelihood of an attack. First, we simply do not have a comprehensive or precise picture of the North Korean nuclear program, especially when it comes to number of weapons and delivery vehicles -- we do not know for sure where they are located or how well they are protected. Second, we have no way of knowing just how good the U.S. intelligence picture really is when it comes to the North Korean nuclear program. How confident is the United States in its own information?...

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