On 26 March 2026, a project launch event was held in Vienna by the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC) and Open Nuclear Network (ONN), which marked the culmination of the project by sharing its findings with diplomatic, technical and non-governmental stakeholders in the future of the DPRK nuclear programme.
Stakeholders in attendance included: the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs; representatives of the Permanent Missions to the International Organizations in Vienna from Australia, France, the Kingdom of Belgium the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and Sweden; and subject matter experts from Uppsala University, AllSource Analysis, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, the Federation of American Scientists, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt and the Stimson Center.
The project team shared new insights into how open sources can shed light on the current and future status of that programme. The group discussion portion explored the policy implications of these findings, including on international priorities for future monitoring.
About the Project
This research is part of the recently concluded project, Open-Source Assessments of the DPRK’s Nuclear Programme. VERTIC, CNS and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), with funding from Global Affairs Canada, conducted this multi-year project to assess the weapons of mass destruction programme in the DPRK. ONN contributed specialised analysis on nuclear force structures, weaponisation capabilities and future trajectories to this consortium.
