Kim Jong Un has been intensifying his efforts to develop a long-range nuclear strike capability since the beginning of 2016. The more vulnerable he feels atop a weakening North Korea, the more he seeks a silver bullet to ensure the regime’s long-term survival.
This dynamic has been in play for decades, especially as North Korea pursued nuclear weapons to compensate for the loss of its powerful patrons in Moscow and Beijing and fell further behind a far more prosperous South Korea.
But Pyongyang’s insecurity has intensified even more under Kim, who, since coming to power in 2012, declared his father’s bequest of a nuclear program as a crowning achievement,changed the constitution to declare North Korea a nuclear state, and declared nuclear and economic development as his twin priorities.
http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2016/04/28/why-north-korean-threat-is-a-more-urgent-issue-for-next-u-s-president/
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