North Korea Nuclear Deterrence: A shift from Assured Retaliation to Assured Destruction

Abstract

There are multiple debates and complexities around the nuclear policies (Nuclear deterrence) of North Korean regimes. Despite various efforts of negotiating meetings in 2018,2019 US and other states failed to bring DRPK into leaving their nuclear program. North Korea’s Advancement of nuclear weapons for the purpose of nuclear deterrence is observed in North Korean risk-taking strategies and the regime’s willingness to provoke. This article will analytically conceptualize the theoretical explanation that represents a presumption that North Korean Nuclear deterrence is shifting from Assured retaliation capabilities to assured destruction capabilities based on the credibility of nuclear weapons that NK possesses. Findings also suggest that a confident prediction can be drawn that North Korea’s “Fire and Furry provocations” are back representing the shift towards an Assured destructive posture of its nuclear deterrence policy with its emphasis on modernizing its nuclear weapons posture.