How to Avoid Armageddon in Korea
Most people intuitively get it. An American preventive strike to wipe out North Korea’s nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles, or a commando raid launched with the same goal in mind, is likely to initiate a chain of events culminating in catastrophe. That would be true above all for the... Read more
Could North Korea Sink an American Aircraft Carrier?
Could North Korea’s armed forces sink an American aircraft carrier? Yes — depending on what type of carrier they confront, how skillfully U.S. Navy commanders employ the flattop and its consorts, how well North Korean warriors know the tactical surroundings and, most crucially, whom fortune favors in combat. Fortune... Read more
These Are the Flashpoints That Could Spark War in 2018
The world has managed to make it through most of 2017 without the return of cataclysmic, great power conflict. In some parts of the world — most notably Syria — tensions have declined significantly. In others, already difficult situations have grown even more tense. Here are five crises that could lead... Read more
The Overhyped Threat of a North Korean EMP
If a war were to break out on the Korean peninsula over Pyongyang’s development of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles and its thermonuclear weapons development efforts, the resulting conflict would be catastrophic even if it remained purely conventional. Worse still would be if nuclear weapons were used — which could... Read more
In a Second Korean War, U.S. Troops Will Fight Underground
U.S. Army war planners and weapons developers have been increasing efforts to fast-track networking technologies for soldiers operating underground in tunnel complexes and in dense urban environments. While the Army created entities such as its Rapid Equipping Force to address fast-emerging threats, the prospect of major ground war on... Read more
North Korea’s Prying Eyes
North Korea maintains an extensive intelligence collection and security apparatus — as might be expected of a totalitarian regime such as the so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Pyongyang maintains two main agencies — one focused on external intelligence collection and clandestine operations and another focused on counterintelligence. There... Read more
Kim Jong Un’s Latest Ballistic Missile Can Strike Almost Anywhere in America
After a months-long lull in activity, North Korea test launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on what appears to have been a lofted trajectory. According to the Pentagon, the weapon flew for a distance of 1,000 kilometers before splashing down near Japan. Very few details were immediately available. “Initial assessment... Read more
In a Verbal Battle With North Korea, the United States Loses
Since April 2017, relations between the United States and North Korea have been steadily deteriorating from their already low point. Today, we see a crisis between Pyongyang and Washington unlike any since the end of the Korean War. In recent months, both Pres. Donald Trump and North Korean supreme... Read more
North Korea Forced Richard Nixon’s First Foreign Crisis
When Pres. Richard Nixon was inaugurated in January 1969, North Korea wasn’t his primary focus. During the 1968 campaign, Nixon had promised “an honorable end to the war in Vietnam.” Compared with Vietnam, Korea was a Cold War backwater. Yet it produced Nixon’s first foreign policy crisis. Nixon’s term... Read more
Meet the Koksan, North Korea’s Giant Artillery
Seoul has to cope with an unusual urban planning program for a huge, modern metropolis: the northern side of the capital lies little more than 30 miles from the border of North Korea, within range of hundreds of enemy artillery pieces — a zone that Pyongyang has threatened to... Read more