Are China And Russia Secretly Assisting North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program?

Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, North Korea has conducted 16 missile tests, firing a total of 23 missiles. As reported by CNN, the tests have seen everything from short range to intercontinental missiles tested, and the tests reveal that North Korea’s weapons program is increasingly effective. Earlier this year North Korea also conducted an underground test of a hydrogen bomb, and Kim Jong-un’s rogue regime boasted last week that the can now target the U.S. mainland with nuclear missiles.

By any measure, the pace of advancement of North Korea’s nuclear missile systems has been remarkable. Each test seems more effective than the last, and NPR reports that last week’s test of the new Hwasong-15 missile shows it to be “a monster.” Independent analysts claim that the new missile is so large that North Korea could use it to launch a “powerful thermonuclear weapon,” even if they have not mastered the ability to miniaturize the warhead.

According to the Daily Mail, the Hwasong-15 missile may have broken up on re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, but it did demonstrate a huge advance in North Korean missile technology. The advance in North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has been so swift that a former NATO supreme allied commander, James Stavridis, believes that North Korea is not acting alone.

According to The Hill, Admiral Stavridis believes that North Korea is being assisted by China, Russia, or Iran as it races to develop its nuclear weapons capability. Stavridis did say that he has no direct evidence that China or Russia are assisting North Korea, but the pace of development indicates that it is unlikely that Kim Jong-un has the capability to make such rapid advances on his own.

Stavridis also suggested that North Korea has had assistance from Iran who has assisted North Korea’s missile program in the past. Stavridis concludes that “it’s fair to say there is some level of outside engagement that has been helpful to [North Korea’s weapons] program.”

Admiral Stavridis took a sideswipe at U.S. President Donald Trump for undermining Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. He points out that Trump’s comments that diplomacy with North Korea “is a waste of time,” makes Tillerson’s job next to impossible.

President Trump has made it clear that he sees China and Russia as the key to solving the impasse between the U.S. and North Korea. If those nations are secretly assisting Kim Jong-un’s nuclear weapons program, it would deal a huge blow to the possibility of a peaceful resolution to the North Korea crisis.