Bad or Mad?

1. What was the historical significance of North Koreas artillery attack on Yeonpyeong
island in November 2010?
It was north koreas first South Korean attack since the Korean War

2. List all the provocative actions and threats that Kim Jong Un directed at South
Korea and its allies in his 1st year in power.
a. Launching a sattelite into space
b. Making nuclear tests
c. Promise to restart the plutonium reactor
d. Cyber attacks in March
e. Threatened to attack guam, Okinawa, and hawaii
f.

3. What are the 4 different things a country has to do if it wants to develop a real
nuclear threat?
a.
get the explosive or fissile material,
b. fit the explosives into a small warhead,
c. build a long-range missile,
d. and secure a platform to launch it from

4. What kind of launch platform for a nuclear weapon does the article say North Korea
needs, and why, and what kind does the North say it has?
It would best if they had a Stealthy submarine as a launch, when they have it on land
5. Why is it more technically challenging to develop an accurate long-range missile
than it is to develop a satellite program?
Because the resources necessary are difficult to obtain, and missiles would need to be launched all the way past the atmosphere
6. What kind of rocket did NK successfully launch its satellite on?
A three staged rocket
7. How much longer might it take for NK to get a nuclear warhead small enough
to fit on
They probably a long-range
have missile?
already mastered it, however they need it to fit their Unha 3, which will take several years

8. What are 2 different kinds of fissile material (material that is capable of sustaining
a chain reaction) that can be used to make a nuclear weapon?
a. Uranium
b. Plutonium

9. Who might have NK have gotten plutonium or enriched uranium from in the past?
They have smugggled some out of the soviet union
10. Describe 2 ways that a country can generate its own fissile material.
a. Burn uranium in a nuclear reactor to generate fissile plutonium.
b. separate fissile uranium from the inert uranium in a gas centrifuge .
11. How long does it take NKs Yongbyon reactor to generate one bombs worth of
plutonium?
It took them several years

12. How much plutonium has NK generated by burning uranium in their own reactor
in Yongbyeon?
Enough for anywhere from 6 to 18 wepons

13. The article says that their are plusses and minuses to using a gas centrifuge to
create your fissile material if you want to build your own bomb.
What is the advantage?
Gas centrifuges are easier to hide than nuclear reactors,
What is the disadvantage?
they are tricky to build and operate.
14. What has been the United Nations preferred method of trying to stop NK from
developing more nuclear weapons?
By preventing them from importing the necessary materials

15. Describe what the sunshine policy towards NK refers to.

promises of peace and reconciliation , together with aid, would persuade the north to give up its hostility
16. Which SK president started the sunshine policy?
President Kim-Seung-Jin
17. What was the policy adopted by President Lee Myung-bak towards NK?

18. What does it appear that Ms. Parks policy towards NK is going to be?
To act tougher and less nice to NK
19. What products are made at the Kaesong industrial complex just across the border
in NK?
watches, garments and other light industrial products

20. What does the NK government get out of the Kaesong deal?
Its a source of obtaining foreign currency
21. The UN has tried to limit the kinds of goods that can be traded with NK with trade
sanctions. What 3 kinds of trade items are countries prohibited to trade with NK?
a. Weapons necessary for their nuclear tests
b. Jewelry that nobles and high end officers could use
c. Foreign cash

22. What are some reasons why China has always been supportive of NK?
Because they can stand sentry against American forces stationed in South Korea.
23. What have been some negative consequences for China of NKs insistence on
developing a viable nuclear threat of its own?

24. What did Xi Jinping do last year that undoubtedly made NK mad?
They met with south korea, and talked about becoming friends again
25. How much of NKs overall trade is done with China?

70% of the trade

26. Why is China not about to close the border with NK, nor go along with tougher
UN trade sanctions against NK?
If the border were closed, the economic disruption would destabilise the regime
27. Why does the article say that the chances of the NK government surviving have
been improving lately?
exports have jumped by 90%

28. What evidence is there that the NK government is a survivor?

29. Why does the article say that it probably wont make much of a difference whether
or not NK develops a more substantial nuclear arsenal?

30. What kinds of chemical and biological weapons does NK potentially have in its
arsenal?

31. List the amount and types of forces that SK and the U.S. have stationed on the
in SK to deter an NK attack.

32. What percentage of SKs current population was alive before the peninsula was split
into 2 countries?