North Korea
Reports
A conversation with HASC Chairman Adam Smith
Asia Transnational Threats Forum: Cybersecurity and cyber resilience
Iran and North Korea: Proliferation and regional challenges for the next administration
Jonathan D. Pollack
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center
Sheena Chestnut Greitens
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies
Evans J.R. Revere
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies
What worries me about Kim Jong Un is that the threat perception of North Korea has declined quite a bit since 2017... The absence of tough talk from Kim Jong Un and the absence of big demonstrations of nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile testing lull us into a view that maybe Kim Jong Un is not dangerous after all... North Korea has between 20 to 60 nuclear weapons. Kim Jong Un has conducted four times more ballistic missile tests than his father and his grandfather combined... We have to assume that they have succeeded and are close to or have achieved that miniaturization... Kim requires a hostile outside world, and he’s going to convey that to his people through his propaganda. What we can reliably predict is that it’s just a matter of time before we have another strategic provocation.
It’s interesting to see how you can see Kim’s personality refracted through these [Trump-Kim "love"] letters... Surrounded by sycophants his entire life and as an observer and student of excessive displays of admiration that enveloped his father and grandfather, Kim Jong Un almost certainly understands how to weaponize praise and prey on one’s insecurities and desire for greatness.