Editor's note

While many parts of the world celebrated Easter, North Koreans commemorated the 105th birthday of the country’s late founder Kim Il-Sung. Along with parades of military vehicles, ballistic missiles and soldiers, the celebrations featured a mock-up video of North Korea destroying an American city.

This visceral expression of Pyongyang’s intentions was most likely timed to coincide with the expected arrival of the US Navy’s aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, and its accompanying fleet of warships in Korean waters, says Graham Ong-Webb. And it’s another reason why the world needs to address North Korea’s nuclear threat sooner rather than later.

Reema Rattan

Global Commissioning Editor

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Seismic waves observed in South Korea after North Korea claimed it tested a hydrogen bomb on January 6 2016. Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

Why North Korea’s nuclear threat must be taken more seriously than ever

Graham Ong-Webb, Nanyang Technological University

The key question is whether North Korea does have nuclear weapons that it can readily use against the United States and its regional allies, South Korea and Japan.

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