UN watchdog: North Korea may have restarted nuclear reactor, putting world at risk

Annie Andersen: BETWEEN HURRICANES AND WILDFIRES AND EARTHQUAKES AMERICANS HAVE PLENTY TO WORRY ABOUT  

BUT WHAT ABOUT A NUCLEAR ATTACK? ISN’T THE COLD WAR OVER?

THIS TIME IT’S NORTH KOREA. THEY MAY HAVE RESTARTED A NUCLEAR REACTOR USED TO MAKE PLUTONIUM FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS. 

THAT’S ACCORDING TO THE UNITED NATIONS’ NUCLEAR WATCHDOG.

THEIR REPORT POINTS OUT NORTH KOREA’S “NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES CONTINUE TO BE A CAUSE FOR SERIOUS CONCERN.”

SO —  HOW SERIOUS?

COULD ONE OF THESE NUKES REACH HAWAII?

WHAT ABOUT THE WEST COAST?

OR EVEN REACH AS FAR AS WASHINGTON DC?

LET’S GET THIS STRAIGHT.

NORTH KOREA TESTED ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT MISSILES, INCLUDING SOME INTERCONTINENTAL ONES ACCORDING TO THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS.

AND MORE SCARY NEWS- WE DON’T KNOW HOW MANY MISSILES THEY HAVE IN THEIR INVENTORY. 

IN 20-18 U-S INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS DETERMINED NORTH KOREA HAD ABOUT 65 MISSILES. AND THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE AN ADDITIONAL 12 MORE PER YEAR.  

AND IN 2019 RESEARCHERS REPORTED THERE COULD BE ABOUT 20 UNDISCLOSED MISSILE LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT NORTH KOREA.

IN 2017, NORTH KOREA TESTED ONE OF ITS MISSILES. IT WENT HIGHER THAN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION BEFORE LANDING JUST OFF JAPAN’S COAST. 

SO NOT SUPER CLOSE TO THE UNITED STATES… BUT IF FIRED DIFFERENTLY, THE SAME RANGE COULD REACH ANYWHERE IN THE MAINLAND US ACCORDING TO THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS.

THAT MEANS, EVERYONE FROM CALIFORNIA TO MAINE COULD BE AT RISK….

NOT MUCH…

THE UNITED STATES CAN BOMB THE MISSILE SITES, BUT THERE IS REAL A FEAR NORTH KOREA WOULD RETALIATE AGAINST ITS SOUTHERN NEIGHBOR. 

DIPLOMACY HASN’T WORKED.

DONALD TRUMP <<”CHAIRMAN KIM AND I JUST SIGNED A JOINT STATEMENT IN WHICH HE RE-AFFIRMED HIS UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO COMPLETE DENUCLEARIZATION OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA.”>>

Annie Andersen: MONTHS AFTER THAT AGREEMENT, NORTH KOREA HELD A PARADE SHOWING OFF ITS BIGGEST INTERCONTINENTAL MISSILE EVER. 

THE WOODROW WILSON CENTER RESEARCHED THE U-S/NORTH KOREA RELATIONSHIP. THEY SAID BY THE END OF TRUMP’S TERM, “HE HAD LITTLE MORE TO SHOW FOR HIS EFFORTS THAN A DRAWER FULL OF FLATTERING LETTERS. FOR ALL OF THE TALK OF THEIR GREAT PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP, KIM JONG UN HAD ONLY ADVANCED HIS CAPABILITIES ONCE AGAIN.

MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE OF STRATEGIC STUDIES SAYS “WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO LEARN TO LIVE WITH NORTH KOREA’S ABILITY TO TARGET THE UNITED STATES WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF NORTH KOREA AS A NUCLEAR THREAT?

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