5 Things You NEED To Know About North Korea’s Nuclear Missiles

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For many of us, the specter of nuclear Armageddon has been an omnipresent threat. After the end of World War II, the world became embroiled in another war, a Cold War, brought on by the creation of weapons of such terrifying destructive force they could wipe out entire cities. Mutually assured destruction between the antagonists meant that neither side could commit to full-scale war without bringing about their own doom, leaving the world in a precarious state.

We thought such a world could be left behind with the fall of the Berlin Wall, but we were wrong. Nuclear weapons remain a global risk, with one particular rogue nation reminding the world time and again that the threat of annihilation never went away, and may indeed be more real than ever before.

With two mad-men threatening nuclear war on Twitter, these are the five things you need to know about North Korea’s nuclear missiles.

5. Kim Jong-Un Has Tested More Missiles Than Both Father And Grandfather Combined

Before we answer the “what”, it helps to first answer “why” North Korea has pursued their nuclear ambitions despite repeated condemnations from the United Nations and multiple sanctions from countries around the globe.

The Kim family has ruled North Korea since the end of World War II. Their dictatorship has been brutally upheld following the Korean war by imprisoning or outright killing political dissidents and creating a cult of personality around the Kim leaders portraying them as North Korea’s saviors and protectors.

While economic sanctions and isolation crippled North Korea’s economy, their leadership remains both well funded and well connected. They also keep a close eye on global events and took special notice of the Libyan and second Iraq wars that saw the deaths of two other tyrannical dictators, Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein. Both countries fell when foreign powers intervened, and only after both had agreed to abandon their nuclear weapons programs.

North Korea learned from those countries and sees nuclear weapons as the only way of securing their future. Thus, North Korea’s current leader, Kim Jong-Un, has tested more missiles than both his predecessors combined and is unlikely to ever relinquish his ambition of turning North Korea into a nuclear power—an ambition he seems to have achieved.

4. Only Recently, North Korea Has More Successes Than Failures

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One of the hallmarks of North Korea’s missile testing program has been a string of failures that at times seemed laughable. Most headlines involving North Korea’s missile program since the late 2000s would show a rocket rising into the air before exploding spectacularly, or not even getting off the ground before erupting in a fireball. Even as recently as 2016, North Korean rockets would hardly strike fear into anyone, although that certainly wasn’t what was reported to the North’s people.

Their string of high-profile failures changed in 2017. Korea began to launch smaller, intermedia missiles with greater regularity after the US election, firing multiple rockets into the Sea of Japan. Later they would go on to launch missiles with a range they report as capable of striking the continental US. There were still failures, but the reporting on them was overshadowed by the increasing number of successes.

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Source: therichest