What I Saw in North Korea and Why it Matters (2011)

Presented by Siegfried S. Hecker, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University

ABSTRACT

North Korea Nuclear Proliferation, Negotiation and the human aspects of an estranged country.

My seventh trip to North Korea in seven years produced another surprise -- North Korea decided to build its own light-water reactor and uranium enrichment facility. During my first visit I was shown plutonium produced in its Yongbyon nuclear complex to convince me they have the bomb. For more than 30 years, Pyongyang has moved along parallel paths of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons, opting to chose bombs over electricity. I will discuss how North Korea got the bomb, why it got it, and the prospects of whether or not it will give up the bomb. Finally, I will try to show with photos and stories of how North Korea is not such a hermit kingdom after all.
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