North Korea’s nuclear programme
Pyongyang first withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993 and has since conducted six nuclear tests, subjecting it to multiple United Nations resolutions, and is believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads.
In 2002, an agreement between North Korea and the US — in which Pyongyang was committed to freeze its plutonium in exchange for aid — collapsed.
In the same year, North Korea admitted to having had a secret nuclear weapons development programme going back several years.
Pyongyang conducted its first nuclear test on October 8, 2006, two days after the UN Security Council warned the country that the action could lead to severe consequences. Several other tests followed.
The nine nuclear-armed states — Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — possessed 12,241 nuclear warheads in January 2025, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported (SIPRI).
Israel remains the only country that possesses nuclear weapons without confirming to possess them.
The US and Russia hold nearly 90 percent of nuclear weapons globally and have carried out major programmes to modernise them in recent years, according to SIPRI.
