Verifying North Korean Nuclear Disarmament: A Technical Analysis

Publication Date: June 2003

Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Author(s): Seongwhun Cheon; Fred McGoldrick; Jon B. Wolfsthal

Research Area: International relations; Military and defense

Type: Report

Coverage: Korea (North)

Abstract:

The nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula continues to pose the most serious security threat to U.S. interests and friends in East Asia. North Korea's nuclear activities include both an active plutonium production capability and a still-under-construction uranium enrichment capability. This program presents a critical security challenge for the United States, countries in East Asia, and, through North Korea's potential to sell nuclear materials abroad, the entire world. All of the states engaged with North Korea agree that the goal of international efforts should be the complete elimination of North Korea's nuclear program and the firm establishment of a non-nuclear Korean peninsula.

The papers included in this report are meant to spur discussion and exploration of these complex issues, and give support to efforts to negotiate an agreement that ends the potential for North Korea to directly threaten the security of its neighbors and other countries.