When North Korea can strike America: a dangerous policy gap
Why it matters: The U.S. and South Korea risk being unable to manage the consequences of North Korea's nuclear capabilities.
- North Korea is steadily approaching the threshold of an operational, reliable capability to strike the U.S. mainland with a nuclear weapon, a question that has lingered for two decades.
- Kim Jong Un has redefined North Korea’s foreign policy, abandoning normalization with the U.S. and instead focusing on strengthening its nuclear force annually, increasing the number of weapons, and expanding operational means and space.
- Washington and Seoul remain constrained by an outdated denuclearization-first policy, despite North Korea's advancements, creating a widening strategic and narrative gap.
- Kim Jong Un stated in September 2025 that the concept of 'denuclearization' has lost its meaning, confirming North Korea has become a nuclear state and making diplomatic engagement conditional on Washington abandoning its denuclearization insistence.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and North Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Cho Hyun reaffirmed the denuclearization objective in February 2026, highlighting the continued adherence to a policy incompatible with Pyongyang's new strategic framework.
North Korea is nearing the capability to strike the U.S. mainland with nuclear weapons, creating a dangerous policy gap as Washington and Seoul cling to an outdated denuclearization-first strategy. Kim Jong Un has fundamentally redefined North Korea's foreign policy, abandoning normalization with the U.S. in favor of consolidating its nuclear program and asserting its status as a nuclear state within a multipolar world order.
