Why stability must come before denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula

North Korea’s nuclear reality and the overlapping interests of the US, China and Russia make tension reduction a prerequisite From Pyongyang’s perspective, these moves are meant not only to gauge how far US military pressure could one day extend, but also to signal that North Korea’s deterrent is fundamentally different from anything Iran ever had. Comparisons between North Korea and Iran have important limits. Geopolitically and militarily, the Korean peninsula presents a vastly different environment. Applying military pressure to a nuclear-armed North Korea would be far riskier and less predictable. North Korea is widely believed to possess at least 50 nuclear warheads. That reality puts the peninsula beyond the point where military pressure alone can produce manageable outcomes. An Iran-style model is therefore unlikely to provide a workable solution for North Korea. Military options pursued in the Middle East cannot simply be replicated on the Korean peninsula, where different security dynamics could produce far more dangerous consequences. More importantly, the peninsula has long been governed by an informal logic of escalation control.

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