Publication

Jun 2003

This paper describes how the prospect of North Korea developing both nuclear weapons and long-range missiles has been at the core of the US rationale for early deployment of a missile defense and of Japan's interest in self-defense. The authors explain the impact of that security policy decision of the US on the strategic balance in East Asia. The paper details how in the face of North Korea's missile programs and its acknowledgment of an active program to develop nuclear weapons, the problem of defense against those weapons has grown in urgency.

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Author Walter B Slocombe, Michael P C Carns, Jacques S Gansler, C Richard Nelson
Series Atlantic Council Asia Papers
Publisher Atlantic Council
Copyright © 2003 Atlantic Council of the United States
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