The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly referred to as North Korea, is widely known for its extreme poverty and oppressive regime. Yet, despite being one of the most impoverished countries on Earth, the DPRK has become a nuclear power. How did this happen?
As it turns out, North Korea has been pursuing a nuclear weapons program since at least the early 1990s. With support from the Soviet Union and China in terms of technology and materials, North Korea began their journey towards nuclear capability. By 2006, they had tested their first nuclear device and declared themselves a nuclear power shortly after.
What drives such an incredibly poor country to become a major player in global geopolitics? To answer this question, we need to look at the country’s history and politics: North Korean leaders have consistently used military threat as a way to achieve national security objectives, propagating fear in order to maintain domestic control. In other words, becoming a nuclear power was seen as necessary for maintaining political stability within the country.
Documentaries like “The Man Who Knew Too Much: Inside North Korea’s Nuclear Program” provide an invaluable insight into these events. The documentary follows journalist Malcolm Brown as he investigates how North Korea became a nuclear state and why their government was willing to make this decision despite its economic woes. With exclusive interviews with key figures within the regime along with rare access into some of the most secret parts of North Korea’s nuclear program, this documentary sheds light on one of the world’s most mysterious regimes and provides valuable insight into how they achieved something that seemed almost impossible—becoming a global superpower through weapons of mass destruction.
If you want to understand how one of our planet’s poorest countries managed to develop nuclear weapons and what drives them, then watch “The Man Who Knew Too Much: Inside North Korea’s Nuclear Program” – it is an eye-opening experience into one of our world’s most secretive nations!
