Published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Online on February 8, 2013.
Article summary below; read the full text here.
After launching a rocket in December and vowing to conduct a third nuclear test, North Korea followed up last week by saying it would take measures “stronger than a nuclear test” and releasing a bizarre YouTube video that appeared to depict a rocket attacking an American city. (The video has since been removed from YouTube; excerpts and commentary can be watched here.)
This latest round of saber-rattling from Pyongyang has, not surprisingly, prompted much beltway hand-wringing about the state of US missile defense, including calls to beef it up. But missile defense is not the panacea that many American politicians make it out to be.
