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What are Technical Hurdles of Verification for North Korea's Nuclear Program?

  • Received : 2021.09.25
  • Accepted : 2021.12.06
  • Published : 2022.03.30

Abstract

The denuclearization of North Korea was unpredictable and resulted in radical changes. Despite the skepticism and disappointment surrounding denuclearization, it is important for certain verification technologies to establish what is technically possible or practically impossible, and how reliable these technical means are. This article presents the technical hurdles in nuclear verification by systematically categorizing them into issues of correctness and completeness. Moreover, it addresses the safety and security risks during the denuclearization process, including the radiological impact on humans, environmental effects, and the illegal transfer of material, information, and technologies.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) by a grant funded by the Ministry of Education of the, Republic of Korea (Grant No. NRF-2019S1A5A2A03046683).

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