A Look At What North Korea's Comand And Control Over Its Nuclear Weapons May Look Like

Vipin Narang and Ankit Panda, War On The Rocks: Command and Control in North Korea: What a Nuclear Launch Might Look Like

A new nuclear state, in a major crisis with a conventionally superior nuclear-armed adversary, contemplates and prepares to move nuclear assets in the event it has to use them. Who controls the nuclear forces? Who decides when they might be assembled, mated to delivery vehicles, moved, and launched? Who has nominal authority to order those decisions? Who has the physical ability to implement them even without proper authorization? How experienced are the relevant units in these operations? What could go wrong?

These were the questions that bedeviled Pakistan in the 1999 Kargil War and again in the 10-month standoff with India in 2001-2002. They are the same challenges and issues that confront North Korea today.

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WNU Editor: A long read that speculates on what may be the command and control systems for North Korea's nuclear weapons.