North Korea has done nothing to decrease its nuclear stockpile or limit production of fissile material since dictator Kim Jong-un held his first summit with President Donald Trump, a report from the Heritage Foundation released Wednesday asserted.
The report from the Washington-based think tank pointed to the fact that the 2020 Index of U.S. Military Strength report released Wednesday determined that Pyongyang still “poses definite threats to the U.S. homeland,” as well as American military bases in South Korea, Japan, and Guam.
President Trump has held two official summits with Kim Jong-un, the first taking place in Singapore last June, followed by a second one in February in Vietnam this year. Although the two sides signed a joint declaration aimed at working towards peace between the two countries, the U.S. has so far refused to lift any economic sanctions while Pyongyang has shown no indication of dismantling its nuclear arsenal.
The deals did not require America to lift sanctions, but they did require North Korea to work towards “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” The deals did not define the term; North Korea often uses it to mean the removal of American military assets from Korea.
“Despite two U.S.–North Korea summit meetings, there has been no decrease in North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) arsenal or production capabilities,” the report declares.
It continues:
The U.S. Intelligence Community subsequently assessed that Pyongyang had increased its production of fissile material for nuclear weapons, and satellite imagery showed upgrades to the missile, reentry vehicle, missile launcher, and nuclear weapon production facilities.
Pyongyang likely has already achieved warhead miniaturization, the ability to place nuclear weapons on its medium-range missiles, and an ability to reach the continental United States with a missile.
The Intelligence Community continues to assess that North Korea “is unlikely to give up all of its WMD stockpiles, delivery systems, and production capabilities.”
See also No Good Choices With North Korea
