What One Photo Tells Us About North Korea’s Nuclear Program
By Dan Drollette Jr | February 24, 2017
If you want to pierce the extraordinary curtain of secrecy surrounding North Korea, you have to be creative.
Case in point: North Korea’s own propaganda images, which can be more revealing than their creators intended. In this New York Times “Interpreter” piece, a series of experts deconstruct a March 2016 image from this largely isolated country, which gives away clues to the possible range of the weapon, Kim Jong-un’s relationship with the military, and the precise location of were the photo was taken.
It’s a fascinating look into the high-tech forensics and traditional detective work that goes into tracking North Korea’s internal politics and weapons programs—and eerily reminiscent of how Kremlinologists during the depths of the Cold War would try to figure out what was going on inside the Soviet Union’s Politburo by examining photos of missiles on display during the annual May Day parades in Moscow.
Publication Name: New York Times
To read what we're reading, click here
Together, we make the world safer.
The Bulletin elevates expert voices above the noise. But as an independent nonprofit organization, our operations depend on the support of readers like you. Help us continue to deliver quality journalism that holds leaders accountable. Your support of our work at any level is important. In return, we promise our coverage will be understandable, influential, vigilant, solution-oriented, and fair-minded. Together we can make a difference.
Topics: Nuclear Weapons, What We’re Reading
Get alerts about this thread
0 Comments
Oldest
Dan Drollette Jr
Dan Drollette Jr is the executive editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He is a science writer/editor and foreign correspondent... Read More
