The World of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un

North Korea is in the news for two reasons: It has expanding nuclear weapons and missiles programs and it threatens to attack South Korea, the United States, and Japan. The nuclear program is hardly news. The Kim regime has been working since the 1980s on this program, and despite occasional denials of any desire to have nuclear weapons, it has forged ahead relentlessly, even during the days when it had reached a non-nuclear agreement with the United States. It is highly unlikely that the North Koreans were ever willing to completely abandon the program, no matter what incentives they were offered, and in recent years they have firmly renounced any interest in even discussing the program.
‘Abducted’ Iranian scientist surfaces in US
WASHINGTON DC, USA: An Iranian nuclear scientist who claims to have been abducted by the United States has taken refuge in the Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC.
Iran faces new UN sanctions
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK: The UN Security Council is voting on a draft resolution imposing a fourth round of sanctions on Iran in response to its nuclear defiance.
Iran reaches nuclear deal with Turkey, Brazil
TEHRAN, IRAN: Attempting to ward off further international sanctions, Iran has reached an agreement with Turkey and Brazil to send uranium abroad for enrichment.
Iran risking multi-front war
The idea that nuclear weapons will usher in an era of peace and security for the Islamic Republic is likely to prove to be nothing short of an illusion—even if Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime succeeds in averting a military strike against its nuclear installations before it reaches its military goals for its nuclear programme.
Leon Sigal
Director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project, Social Science Research Council

Dr. Leon V. Sigal is director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council in New York.
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