Beyond their military utility, nuclear weapons are all that North Korea has to command international attention. Pyongyang may also see them as a valuable bargaining chip should it ever negotiate reunification with Seoul, which has a huge advantage in economic strength.
Moreover, North Korean officials know the fate of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Qaddafi. They are quick to tell visitors that if the Iraqi and Libyan leaders had not given up their weapons of mass destruction, their lives would have ended quite differently. Being close students of US foreign policy, they are also likely to believe that just as Washington eventually dropped its sanctions and accepted Pakistan’s and India’s nuclear status, it will ultimately do the same for North Korea.
