Why?
The United States and its Asian allies regard North Korea as a grave security threat. North Korea has one of the world’s largest conventional military forces, which, combined with its missile and nuclear tests and aggressive rhetoric, has aroused concern worldwide. But world powers have been ineffective in slowing its path to acquire nuclear weapons.
While it remains among the poorest countries in the world, North Korea spends nearly a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP) on its military, according to U.S. State Department estimates.
Its brinkmanship will continue to test regional and international partnerships aimed at preserving stability and security.
Recent U.S.-North Korea summits have deepened direct diplomacy. But the negotiations so far demonstrate that the dismantling of North Korea’s arsenal will remain a lengthy and challenging process.
It's capabilities?
North Korea has tested a series of different missiles, including short-, medium-, intermediate-, and intercontinental- range, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
The size of the country’s nuclear stockpile is currently unknown. Pyongyang could have between twenty and sixty assembled nuclear weapons, according to various estimates by experts. U.S. intelligence officials estimated in 2018 that North Korea has enough fissile material—the core component of nuclear weapons—for sixty-five weapons, and that every year it produces enough fissile material for twelve additional weapons.
The regime successfully tested intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), each capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead, in July and November 2017.
Pyongyang said that in its November testing of the Hwasong-15 ICBM, the missile hit an altitude of 4,475 kilometers (2,780 miles), far above the International Space Station, and flew about 1,000 kilometers (590 miles) before landing in the sea off Japan’s coast. Analysts estimate the Hwasong-15 has a potential range of 13,000 kilometers (8,100 miles) and, if fired on a flatter trajectory, could reach anywhere on the U.S. mainland.
North Korea unveiled a new ICBM, larger than the Hwasong-15, during a military parade in October 2020.
Carried on an eleven-axel vehicle, it is believed to be one of the world’s largest road-mobile, liquid-fueled missiles. Although the missile has not yet been tested and possibly won’t be for months or years, analysts said it could potentially carry multiple nuclear warheads or decoys to confuse missile defense systems.