This article came out a week ago, one of the authors, Sig Hecker is a former LANL lab director.
https://www.38north.org/2024/01/is-kim-jong-un-preparing-for-war/
also this more positive rebuttal was published,
https://www.38north.org/2024/01/a-fundamental-shift-or-more-of-the-same-a-rebuttal/
9 comments:
Here's another article on that,
https://www.nknews.org/2024/01/kim-jong-un-is-daring-seoul-to-escalate-both-koreas-must-step-back-from-brink/
Another article:
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15116340
Hecker wrote a 2023 book, Hinge Points: An Inside Look at North Korea's Nuclear Program, which goes into the history that led up to the present situation.
Hinge Points brings readers literally inside the North Korean nuclear program, joining Siegfried Hecker to see what he saw and hear what he heard in his visits to North Korea from 2004 to 2010. Hecker goes beyond the technical details―described in plain English from his on-the-ground experience at the North's nuclear center at Yongbyon―to put the nuclear program exactly where it belongs, in the context of decades of fateful foreign policy decisions in Pyongyang and Washington.
Describing these decisions as "hinge points," he traces the consequences of opportunities missed by both sides. The result has been that successive U.S. administrations have been unable to prevent the North, with the weakest of hands, from becoming one of only three countries in the world that might target the United States with nuclear weapons. Hecker's unique ability to marry the technical with the diplomatic is well informed by his interactions with North Korean and U.S. officials over many years, while his years of working with Russian, Chinese, Indian, and Pakistani nuclear officials have given him an unmatched breadth of experience from which to view and interpret the thinking and perspective of the North Koreans.
"Hinge Points is a must-read for any serious practitioner of foreign relations. Siegfried Hecker lays out a riveting narrative derived from his "man in the ring" experiences over several decades. His deep insights are highly relevant to the challenges deriving from a nuclear-capable North Korea playing out in real-time."―Vincent K. Brooks, General, U.S. Army (Retired)
"Written by a scientist who has actually walked around North Korea's nuclear complex, Hinge Points is a piercing analysis of the decades-long failure to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. With unparalleled mastery of both technical details and diplomatic complexities, Siegfried Hecker lays bare the history in a way that opens a future path to progress."―John Delury, Yonsei University
"With Hinge Points, Siegfried Hecker offers unique insights into North Korea' dangerous nuclear program. And no-one is better qualified to do so. Hecker has visited the North and talked with their nuclear experts many times―and has held their plutonium in his (gloved) hand."―William J. Perry 19th U.S. Secretary of Defense
"Unlike other physical scientists who have turned their hands to policy, Hecker understands the complexities without trying to reduce them to simple solutions. His frustration at the lack of progress with North Korea is palpable and a refreshing contrast to the tired cynicism of experts in Washington who believe that Pyongyang is a hopeless case yet refuse to adopt different approaches. One can only hope Hecker has another chance to visit North Korea to brighten the prospects for diplomacy."―Sharon Squassoni, Arms Control Today
You keep going on about this Hecker guy? Who is he?
https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/people/siegfried_s_hecker
From 1986 to 1997, Dr. Hecker served as the fifth Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Hecker is an internationally recognized expert in plutonium science, global threat reduction, and nuclear security.
Dr. Hecker’s current research interests include nuclear nonproliferation and arms control, nuclear weapons policy, nuclear security, the safe and secure expansion of nuclear energy, and plutonium science.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/10151194/kim-jong-un-putin-new-world-order-chilling-warning/
KIM Jong-un and Vladimir Putin have sent a chilling warning to the West as they vowed to form a "New World Order".
North Korea said it has agreed to further strategic and tactical cooperation with Russia as both countries ramp up a united front against the United States.
"https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/people/siegfried_s_hecker
From 1986 to 1997, Dr. Hecker served as the fifth Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Hecker is an internationally recognized expert in plutonium science, global threat reduction, and nuclear security."
I would take Pete Nanos any day over this Hecker guy.
On this general topic, in a court deposition recently Trump made some claims related to North Korea:
https://youtu.be/Up668eqzRXY?si=mSobX11CnhLWFL2T
The BBC had a nice article relating to this and putting it in context:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68052515
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