The North Korean nuclear threat, explained

40 maps that explain North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is one of the most misunderstood countries in the world. Use these maps and charts, compiled by Vox, for context and clarity on North Korea. North Korea has a large military and an advanced nuclear...

An overview of North Korea’s military capabilities

With one of the world’s largest conventional military forces, North Korea is often perceived as a security threat. This multimedia backgrounder by CFR breaks down North Korea’s military capabilities. North Korea has the world’s...

North Korea, in nine infographics

In recent decades, North Korea has spent nearly a third of its annual Gross Domestic Product on military spending, although data is not always forthcoming. This spending has funded major nuclear and missile projects as a means to deter attacks from...

What missiles does North Korea have?

In recent years, North Korea has tested a variety of ballistic and cruise missiles as well as both submarine-launched missiles and hypersonic missiles, which can fly at low altitude (to escape radar detection) and at several times the speed of sound. Dive into this visualization by the BBC to break down what missiles North Korea currently has.

A timeline of Russia-North Korea relations

North Korea and Russia have often had aligned interests, yet their relationship has experienced many highs and lows. Al Jazeera’s explainer outlines the key events defining Russia-North Korea relations. Russia and North Korea were allies during...

Is North Korea fighting a food crisis?

North Korea is facing a food crisis placing it on the brink of famine. Read (or watch) Al Jazeera’s detailed take on the food crisis unfolding in North Korea. Since the 1950s, the country has relied on a collective agriculture system. But...

An interactive visualization tracking 25 years of US-North Korea nuclear negotiations

From 1990 to 2017, the United States and North Korea engaged in a complex series of bilateral and multilateral negotiations. This interactive page, compiled by CSIS Beyond Parallel, displays a record of provocations and negotiations between the two...

An in-depth profile of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un

Kim Jong Un seems to have known from an early age that he was destined to lead North Korea. Read this visual-rich essay by a former CIA analyst for a comprehensive profile of North Korea’s leadership. The Kim family dynasty cultivated strong...

A primer on the president's nuclear football

During the Cold War, the United States and the USSR were forced to prepare for a nuclear strike at a moment's notice, leading to a new innovation: the so-called "football" (known as the chemodanchik in Russia), a bag containing nuclear strike plans, authentication codes, and likely a communication device, which attended the country's leader wherever they went. This easy-to-read piece breaks down the history and lore around the high-stakes quirk in nuclear governance.

Learn how the Soviets won the early space race

This video traces how Cold War arms competition transformed rocketry into a symbol of global power, following pioneers like Tsiolkovsky and von Braun through World War II and into the 1950s, culminating in the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik I in 1957.

Four Cold War hawks warn: Nuclear weapons still threaten the world

Despite the Cold War's end, the US and Russia still hold 95% of the world's nuclear weapons—many on hair-trigger alert. In this 2010 documentary, top former officials urge urgent action to reduce and eliminate the threat.

Nuclear weapons release energy through rapid atomic reactions

Nuclear weapons work by unleashing energy from atomic fission—or fusion—reactions. In fission bombs, a critical mass triggers a runaway chain reaction in milliseconds. This video explains the basic science behind their immense explosive power.

An NSA analyst helped avert nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis

In October 1962, NSA cryptographer Juanita Moody headed analysis of U‑2 surveillance data and urgently produced intelligence on Soviet missile deployments in Cuba. Her reports drove high-level US decision-making, and were critical to avoiding nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The alliance operates under a "flexible response" doctrine—that is, proportionality

NATO countries' main deterrent against aggression is their ability to respond with nuclear weapons. This video from "The Infographics Show" outlines the purpose of this nuclear arsenal, NATO’s strategy to prevent attacks, and its plans in the event of escalation toward nuclear war.

Listening to K-pop in North Korea is punishable by execution

As far as we know, North Koreans are instead listening to music that serves as public service announcements or some catchy electronic music for dancing.

Explore a multimedia timeline of Communism’s global rise and collapse

This timeline from The Washington Post traces the spread of Communism—from revolutions and Cold War flashpoints to movements in China, Cuba, Korea, and Vietnam—using archival photos and key moments to chart the ideology’s dramatic ascent and worldwide decline.

The dramatic story of the spies and scientists behind the atomic bomb

This podcast traces the dramatic origins of nuclear weapons—from the scientists racing to beat the Nazis in Season 1 to the Soviet spy who stole atomic secrets in Season 2.

The Non‑Proliferation Treaty was designed to prevent new states from developing nuclear bombs

The Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (created in 1968, effective 1970) binds non-nuclear states to forgo nuclear weapons and commits nuclear powers to share peaceful technology and pursue disarmament—forming the core of the global non-proliferation regime.

A deep dive on the weapons being used by both sides

From ballistic missiles to armed drones, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is proving the devastating power of modern weaponry. This infographic illustrates and explains the uses and effects of the weapons of choice for both sides of the conflict. Tactics are also explored in regards to their efficacy and consequences, with expert commentary added.

View a list of the worst nuclear meltdowns before 2013

Nuclear meltdowns occur when a reactor overheats and radioactive materials leach into the surrounding environment. While rare, the reasons for each occurrence—as detailed in this piece—can help establish new safety protocols for future reactors.

The rise of ISIS, explained in 6 minutes

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is incredibly powerful, and has seemingly done the impossible. The group has seized vast areas of the Middle East to form a mini-state it calls a reincarnation of the ancient Caliphate. Since forming, ISIS has waged war with all of its neighbors and has launched deadly terror attacks all over the world. This six-minute video, by Vox, outlines the history and rise of ISIS.

South Koreans grew roughly 7 inches in a century on average

A hundred years ago, the average Korean woman was only 4’7”. Today, she stands nearly eight inches taller than her great-grandmother did, the largest jump of any country on earth. This video from Vox tries to explain why. Turns out, South Korea’s increasing postwar quality of life gave its people a (literal) leg up.

How do vaccines work? Watch this brief 101

Watch this under-3-minute video explaining how vaccines use the body's immune system to prepare our bodies against viral and bacterial threats to our health.

Isodope is the world's first nuclear energy influencer

Isabelle Boemeke, a Brazilian fashion model and social media personality, began promoting the benefits of nuclear electricity in 2015. She now debunks common objections to it through her TikTok persona Isodope—which has more than 34,000 followers.

Experts ponder nuclear rockets to send humans to Mars

Nuclear rocket technology might be the fastest, safest way to get to the red planet. But if NASA wants to go, it should start development now.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Watch what the Ebola virus does inside our cells and organs in order to spread and survive.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.