Dr. Siegfried Hecker, senior fellow and professor emeritus at Stanford University and Director Emeritus of Los Alamos National Laboratory speaking Tuesday evening at Duane Smith Auditorium about his new book, written with Elliot Serbin, Hinge Points: An Inside Look at North Korea’s Program. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com
Dr. Siegfried Hecker, senior fellow and professor emeritus at Stanford University and director emeritus of the Los Alamos National Laboratory returned to his former hometown to promote his latest book, written with Elliot Serbin, Hinge Points: An Inside Look at North Korea’s Nuclear Program, Jan. 10 at Duane Smith Auditorium. The book, published Feb. 7, was not available at the event, but Hecker promised to return and sign copies soon.
Hecker is an expert in both nuclear weapons and international security.
“Read the book,” he urged the audience. “This is just a brief overview.”
Sponsored by the Los Alamos Historical Society, Hecker’s talk is another in the series of the Alice and Lawry Mann Lectures. Hecker began his presentation by paying tribute to the Manns. Alice Mann was in the audience for the talk.
“How did North Korea get from no nuclear weapons in 2001 to a threatening arsenal of 30 to 60 weapons today?” Hecker asked. “The book seeks to answer that question.”
Hecker didn’t start out wanting to be an expert on the North Korean nuclear program. His friend and colleague, John W. Lewis of Stanford University, talked him into visiting North Korea in January 2004. He ended up returning for seven visits through 2010.
“It wasn’t what I expected,” Hecker said. “It was Jan. 6 and there were Christmas decorations all over. Children’s playgrounds were everywhere. The market we visited was full of goods.”
The centerpiece of the trip was a visit to the nuclear center at Yongbyon.
“North Korea started to come out of its shell after the fall of the Soviet Union,” Hecker said.
President Clinton was negotiating a deal with North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for light water reactor technology for energy production, he said. Clinton became involved in other things and the deal was not completed.
“By the time the Bush Administration came in, in 2002, they decided to kill the deal,” Hecker said.
This proved to be the legacy of missed diplomatic opportunities that Hecker describes in Hinge Points.
Hinge Points are pivotal moments in the history of the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea. When Hecker expressed doubt that they had extracted 25-30 kgs of plutonium, the North Koreans offered to show it to him.
“The plutonium was in a sealed glass jar,” he said. “I got to hold it.”
First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kim Kye-gwan spoke frankly with Hecker, telling him, ‘this visit can have great symbolic significance. The Bush administration doesn’t seem to care that we’re building a bomb. We’ve shown you our deterrent.’
“I thought, if they can make plutonium, they can make a bomb,” Hecker said.
Hecker spoke before the Foreign Relations Committee, upon his return. He would continue visiting North Korea and reporting back to the U.S. government for the next seven years.
“I developed a good relationship with the nuclear people as well as the diplomats,” Hecker said. “They trusted me to report what I saw.”
There was opportunity to negotiate with the North Koreans, but the Bush Administration wanted nothing to do with it, Hecker said. By 2010, it was too late.
“The new reality was they had both plutonium and uranium paths to the bomb,” Hecker said.
The North Koreans showed Hecker their modern centrifuge facility that made enriched uranium.
“2010 was a blockbuster of a visit,” Hecker said. “They used me to send their message, but I had the opportunity to see their facilities. After 2010, they didn’t need me anymore.”
And so it went. Bush was surrounded by hawkish advisors who wanted regime change, Hecker said. Obama was focused on Iran and did nothing with North Korea. Trump alternately issued threats and offered olive branches, but ultimately walked away.
In the meantime, North Korea was building weapons and perfecting their missile launch capacity.
“I don’t think they can yet reach the U.S. with nuclear missiles,” Hecker said,” but they are on their way.”
“I’ve seen the letters between Trump and Kim Jong-un,” Hecker said. “They had an incredible opportunity to move North Korea away from nuclear weapons.”
Biden has continued the pattern of ignoring North Korea, he said, but there remains hope.
“Ultimately, the North Koreans can’t eat nuclear weapons,” he said. “The road to the world is through the U.S.”
Hecker’s new book will be available soon at the Los Alamos History Museum.