Across panel discussions, presentations and session chairing, ONN Senior Analysts Sarah Laderman and Jaewoo Shin shared research on North Korea’s nuclear programme, open-source monitoring, verification and safeguards, emerging technologies and nuclear risk reduction.
The meeting also highlighted the wider uptake of ONN and VERTIC’s research. ONN researchers saw estimates from the VERTIC-ONN project on North Korea’s highly enriched uranium (HEU) stockpile being used in presentations by technical organisations working in the safeguards and non-proliferation field in Asia. This follows sustained engagement with Korea-based experts during ONN and VERTIC’s 2025 field research in South Korea and demonstrates how their analysis is informing wider technical discussions on the DPRK’s nuclear programme.
On 4 August, Laderman and Shin joined Hailey Wingo of VERTIC for the panel “Open-source monitoring of North Korea's nuclear fuel cycle and weaponisation programme”, moderated by Laura Rockwood, INMM's Vice-President, former ONN Director and current ONN Advisory Council member.
The panel examined how open-source information and analytical methods can support assessments of North Korea’s nuclear fuel cycle and weaponisation programme, building on ONN and VERTIC’s multi-year research project on the DPRK.
On 3 August, Shin presented “Monitoring a Moratorium: What Commercial Satellite Imagery Can—and Can’t—Show at Test Sites”, examining the capabilities and limitations of commercial satellite imagery for monitoring nuclear test sites.
He also presented “Evaluating and Mitigating Environmental Risks Associated with the DPRK’s Nuclear Program”, sharing work from ONN’s ongoing Korea Foundation-funded research into environmental and safety risks associated with North Korea’s nuclear activities.
Photo credits: ONN
Laderman’s contributions focused on emerging challenges for international safeguards and verification. On 4 August, she co-chaired the session “Technical Application of AI for Safeguards”, which brought together research on the application of artificial intelligence and advanced data analysis to nuclear safeguards.
On 5 August, Laderman presented “Disinformation as a Risk to Nuclear Verification and Safeguards Regimes”, examining how verification and nuclear safeguards could be affected by radiological and nuclear disinformation, and how the community could protect itself against this threat.
Photo credits: ONN
ONN’s participation at INMM provided an opportunity to share its latest research and strengthen engagement across the safeguards and non-proliferation community, while the uptake of ONN and VERTIC’s DPRK research demonstrates its growing contribution to wider technical discussions.
