What made North Korea’s weapons programs so much scarier in 2017

[mystery-ak]

By Adam Taylor and Tim Meko December 21 at 9:00 AM



Just a few years ago, North Korea's weapons program was treated like a bad joke, better known for its duds, misfires and fakes than its ability to threaten the United States.

But in 2017, the North Korean weapons program stopped being funny. Instead, Pyongyang's persistent pursuit of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons technology led to serious talk about the risk of a devastating conflict between the United States and North Korea.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/12/21/what-made-north-koreas-weapons-programs-so-much-scarier-in-2017/?utm_term=.c7a30f8e126c

[driftdiver]

If Kim thinks he's going to be removed he will not hesitate to take as many people with him as possible. 

[BassWrangler]

It’s always been a serious threat. The real question is why did the press wait to start treating it as such until 2017, and the answer is: that’s when a Republican administration took over.

They did the same thing back when Bush took over from Clinton. They gladly turned a blind eye to NK cheating on the nuke agreement until Bush took over and called them on it, and then suddenly it was all Bush’s fault.