North Korea Forges Ahead

Eric Gomez

The following is an excerpt from an article I wrote on North Korea’s recent ballistic missile developments. CBNW magazine published the article on their website in early April 2021.

Adding solid‐​fuel missiles and improving the payload capacity of ICBMs are the two most pressing priorities for North Korea’s strategic missile forces. If both steps succeed, then Pyongyang will be able to significantly improve the survivability of its nuclear deterrent.

Greater protection against disarming attack could encourage U.S.-North Korea strategic stability in theory, but Washington is unlikely to accept mutual vulnerability. Absent a change in U.S. policy that places greater emphasis on arms control instead of full denuclearization, North Korea’s new strategic missile systems will likely accelerate an existing offense‐​defense arms race that will in turn encourage greater U.S. missile defense spending.

The rest of the article can be found on the CBNW website: https://​cbnw​.co​.uk/​n​o​r​t​h​-​k​o​r​e​a​-​f​o​r​g​e​s​-​a​head/