6 DPRK AS DE FACTO NUCLEAR STATE: WHAT’S NEXT? Anastasia O. Barannikova Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University, Vladivostok Abstract: Recent acceleration of the nuclear and missile program (technical progress, doctrine etc.) has made the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) de facto nuclear state. In this connection, the further intentions and steps of North Korean leadership are of specific interest. The present article analyzes current state of the DPRK nuclear and missile programs and strategic planning and attempts to determine the further development of nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula. Key words: DPRK, nuclear and missile program, Russia, double freezing initiative, NEA NWFZ Opinions on the level of the DPRK nuclear and missile programs are various, but the majority of experts recognize that it has already become an actor other regional countries have to reckon with. DPRK has not yet tested ICBM equipped with nuclear warhead. However, the samples of weapons demonstrated by the country since the beginning of last year indicate that the DPRK is capable of overcoming existing missile defense systems and delivering nuclear weapons to any point of the territories of ROK and Japan. Current state of the DPRK nuclear and missiles programs Missiles The total number of North Korean missiles is not known to anyone reliably and observers can only make assumptions. According to Jeffrey Lewis, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, DPRK has “several hundred Scud and Rodongs”[20]. The total number of launchers can amount to several thousand. At the same time many of the missiles tested recently are considered as brand new missiles. DPRK has conducted a series of missile tests since the beginning of last year, including launches of Hwasong-10 missile,