North Korea's Military Modernization and the Future of the U.S.-ROK Alliance

Описание: North Korea is finalizing a five-year military modernization plan and will hold its Ninth Party Congress in the coming days—the results of which could reshape security dynamics on the Korean Peninsula. New long-range missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland, a nuclear doctrine that explicitly permits preemptive use of nuclear weapons, and expanded conventional capabilities are reshaping deterrence and security in the Indo-Pacific.
North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine has added another dimension to the threat. North Korean troops have learned how to fight and deploy drones, small-unit tactics, and electronic warfare on a live battlefield. With North Korea’s recent pledge of unconditional support for Russia, along with China’s ongoing economic and political backing, this axis of upheaval is poised to continue.

Join the Korea Economic Institute of America and assess what North Korea’s weapons modernization means for the U.S.-South Korea alliance that has underpinned peninsula security for over seven decades. How does a credible first-use doctrine reshape the deterrence calculus? What new capabilities are the United States and South Korea developing to tackle more advanced conventional threats from the North? What do the Trump administration’s newly released national security and defense strategies, which notably deprioritize North Korea in favor of China, mean for burden-sharing and force posture?

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