llm/dae871b9-5bc1-417d-9129-a6e7d38e06c7/topic-4-615ca9db-3766-49e7-b6f1-6b6c61ed75d2-output.json
North Korea’s nuclear strategy is framed as a rational "credible threat" designed to prevent regime change, shifting the regime's defense from conventional artillery strikes on Seoul to a survivalist nuclear doctrine. Because the DPRK cannot guarantee air superiority like the United States, it relies on extensive underground bunkers to ensure the leadership survives potential decapitation strikes that have successfully targeted other non-nuclear nations. While the alliance with China remains a critical geopolitical shield, the pursuit of a nuclear triad aims to make foreign intervention prohibitively costly by guaranteeing a catastrophic second-strike capability. Ultimately, this focus on absolute deterrence has preserved the regime’s sovereignty, albeit at the steep price of extreme economic isolation and social deprivation.