North Korea's obsession with its survival in a world it sees as increasingly hostile is the driving force behind Pyongyang's secrecy regarding its nuclear activities. Asian Ambitions, Rising Tensions . By Ryukichi Imai. The superpower arms race may be over, but the nuclear ambitions of some states and political instability pose serious threats to Asian security. China continues its major arms build-up, purchasing weapons from the former Soviet Union.
Considerable uncertainty surrounds North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
North Korea Drops Out. By David Albright. The IAEA's demand that it be allowed to inspect North Korea's nuclear waste and determine whether that country has separated plutonium has been rejected. By David Albright and Mark Hibbs. North Korea's operation of a small nuclear reactor and its plans to build a larger one, as well as the suspicion that it now has a plutonium processing capability, has increased international calls for Pyongyang to allow the IAEA inspect that country's nuclear facilities.