Nuclear Command and Control in North Korea: Assessing the Alternatives and their Implications

Abstract: While much of the world is focused on Russia's war in Ukraine, North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs. It shows no signs of slowing down. It has already conducted a record number of ballistic missile launches for a single year – with the year just barely half over – and reports suggest it is preparing a seventh nuclear test. Moreover, it has recently signaled that it might soon deploy so-called tactical nuclear weapons to front-line units and that it would be prepared to use them preemptively. Such developments portend an alarming shift in North Korea's nuclear strategy. The credibility of its evolving nuclear strategy, however, will depend increasingly on the nuclear command and control (NC2) system it erects to operationalize its arsenal. Shane Smith will assess the alternative NC2 arrangements North Korea might adopt and their implications for US regional deterrence and defense planning.

Bio: Dr. Shane Smith is the Director of the US Air Force Institute for National Security Studies and Associate Professor of Political Science at the US Air Force Academy. He was previously a Senior Research Fellow at the National Defense University's Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction, where he was also the Director of the Program for Emerging Leaders from 2008-2012. He has served as Senior Adviser for East Asia Nuclear Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and as a Special Adviser at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Prior to government service, Dr. Smith worked for former Secretaries of Defense Ashton Carter and William Perry at the Harvard-Stanford Preventive Defense Project and as a Research Associate for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. He has taught US nuclear strategy and national security policy related courses at the US Air Force Academy, the National Defense University, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Colorado in Boulder. Dr. Smith is the author or co-author of over twenty-five articles, chapters, and government studies, primarily focused on the role of nuclear of weapons in the Indo-Pacific region.