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North Korean Nuclear History

This is a collection of documents about North Korea's nuclear program. Drawn from the archives of North Korea's former communist allies, the collection highlights that North Korea's nuclear ambitions began as early as the 1950s.

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May 10, 1995

Summary Report on One-on-One Meeting between Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin, May 10, 1995, 10:10 a.m.-1:19 p.m., St. Catherine's Hall, the Kremlin

Yeltsin and Clinton discuss arms control agreements such as START II, the nuclear aspirations of Iran and North Korea, NATO expansion, and other subjects.

May 30, 1984

Stenographic Record of Conversation between Erich Honecker and Kim Il Sung

Stenographic record of the first meeting between Kim Il Sung and Erich Honecker upon the former's 1984 official visit to the GDR. This is the morning session of 30 May 1984. Kim does most of the talking. Kim Il Sung discussed the economic situation in North Korea, objectives and problems of energy generation, the educational system. He asked the GDR for labor and cooperation in the education of specialists. He wanted to sign a long-term agreement of economic cooperation along with the intended friendship treaty. Kim Il Sung also evaluated the military situation in South Korea, explaining the problems of negotiations and reunification with the South. Honecker proposed the creation of an agreement towards economic and scientific cooperation between GDR and North Korea.

October 18, 1986

Report on a Erich Honecker's visit to North Korea, October 1986

During the meeting with Kim Il Sung, Honecker talked about economic deployment in the GDR and German foreign policy. Kim Il Sung explained Korea's economic problems and objectives, as well as Korea's external position. Treaties for economic cooperation were signed.

October 9, 1991

Record of Conversation between Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A. S. Dzasokhov with the DPRK Ambassador Son Seong-pil

Son Seong-pil says North Korea will "closely watch" the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.

March 9, 1967

Report, Embassy of Hungary in North Korea to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry

A report on a meeting between Kim Il Sung and the Cuban Ambassador in which the North Koreans criticize China, report on North Korea's relations with Cuba and Yugoslavia, and comment on nuclear nonproliferation.
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Russia's Policy in the Run-Up to the First North Korean Nuclear Crisis, 1991-1993

Sergey Radchenko draws on Soviet and Russian documents from 1991-1993 to argue that the first North Korean crisis began partly as a result of the policy choices of key regional players.

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North Korea's Efforts to Acquire Nuclear Technology and Nuclear Weapons: Evidence from Russian and Hungarian Archives

Documents and analysis from Balazs Szalontai and Sergey Radchenko.

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North Korea and the Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis transformed North Korea’s relations with Moscow and Beijing and nudged the country down a path of unsustainable military buildup that, in part, resulted in a nuclear weapons program and was responsible for the country’s economic difficulties in later decades.  

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