Why De-Nuking North Korea Is So Difficult

President Donald Trump says many things that aren't true, but following his historic meeting Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, his repeated assertion during a press conference that "it does take a long time" to "pull off complete denuclearization" stacks up pretty well. It will probably take a decade at the very least.

It's not hard for a nation to dismantle or destroy its nuclear weapons, as well as the technological infrastructure used to create them. North Korea may have as many as 50 weapons, and could probably dismantle them in a few weeks. Destroying test facilities, including underground test sites, as well as centrifuges and other technology, would take a little longer. But the really hard part of “de-nuking” is managing to do it in such a way that other parties can verify your actions are legitimate.