2017 Deterring a Nuclear-Arming North Korea: Kim Jong-un's Grand Strategy, China's North Korea Policy Challenge for Pacific Command, DPRK's Nuclear Weapons Technical Issues, Warheads, Plutonium

Four excellent and up-to-date reports about North Korea and its nuclear weapons program are included in this reproduction.

Contents: Deterring a Nuclear-Arming North Korea 2017; U.S. Strategy for Dealing with a Nuclear-Arming North Korea Bibliography November 2016; Challenges for Pacific Command - China's North Korea Policy: Rethink or Recharge?; North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: Technical Issues.

Deterring a Nuclear-Arming North Korea 2017 - Proceedings of a major workshop with three primary aims: a) to contemplate a shift of focus from preventing and rolling back North Korea's nuclear program to one of deterring North Korean nuclear-backed aggression, b) to catalogue the instruments of influence and characterize needed deterrence capabilities, and c) to identify key analytical issues for continued focus by the analytical community. The panels covered: 1) Kim Jong Un's Grand Strategy; 2) North Korea's Nuclear Military Strategy; 3) Deterrence and Assurance in a Changed and Changing Security Environment; 4) Extended Deterrence, Escalation, and Managing Conflict; 5) Deterring North Korean Vertical Proliferation; 6) Towards an Integrated Strategic Approach.

Challenges for Pacific Command - China's North Korea Policy: Rethink or Recharge? There has been much speculation lately about a Chinese "rethink" on North Korea. Beijing has clearly been exasperated with Pyongyang. What is going on with Beijing's Pyongyang policy? Has there actually been a reassessment of the PRC's policy toward the DPRK? Is there a military component to this policy, and what do we know about planning by China's People's Liberation Army for a Korea contingency?

North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: Technical Issues - This report summarizes what is known from open sources about the North Korean nuclear weapons program—including weapons-usable fissile material and warhead estimates—and assesses current developments in achieving denuclearization. Little detailed open-source information is available about the DPRK's nuclear weapons production capabilities, warhead sophistication, the scope and success of its uranium enrichment program, or extent of its proliferation activities. In total, it is estimated that North Korea has between 30 and 50 kilograms of separated plutonium, enough for at least half a dozen nuclear weapons. North Korea's plutonium production reactor at Yongbyon has been shuttered since its cooling tower was destroyed under international agreement in June 2008. However, on April 1, 2013, North Korea said it would resume operation of its plutonium production reactor. Experts estimate it will take approximately six months to restart. This would provide North Korea with approximately one bomb's worth of plutonium per year.