How Reliable Are North Korea's Nukes?

How Reliable Are North Korea’s Nukes?

Posted: August 10th, 2017

By David Wright

Dr. David Wright is the co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientist's Global Security Program. He is a nationally known expert on the technical aspects of nuclear weapons policy, missile defense systems, missile proliferation, and space weapons. For the past 27 years, Wright has been a primary organizer of the International Summer Symposiums on Science and World Affairs, which fosters cooperation among scientists around the world working on arms control and security issues.

After President Donald Trump’s vow that any threats from North Korea “will be met with fire, fury, and frankly, power the likes of which this world has never seen before,” Pyongyang responded within hours, threatening to strike American military forces based on the U.S. island of Guam.

The war of words came the same day as the Washington Post reported on a recent Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that concluded North Korea now has the capability to put a miniaturized nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile and is in possession of 60 nuclear weapons.

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