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How Did North Korea Get Nuclear Weapons?

This picture taken and released on July 4, 2017 by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the test-fire of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
This picture taken and released on July 4, 2017 by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the test-fire of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

In an interview with The American Prospect, White House strategist Steve Bannon said “there’s no military solution” to North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons program. Going against President Trump’s threat of “fire and fury,” Bannon suggested Trump should tone down the brinkmanship with North Korea and focus on China instead.

But how did North Korea get its nuclear weapons in the first place?

Here & Now‘s Meghna Chakrabarti talks with James Acton (@james_acton32), co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about the origins of the North Korean nuclear program and how that history informs the situation today.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.