Siegfried S. Hecker is senior fellow and professor emeritus at Stanford University and director emeritus of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. His expertise ranges from plutonium science to nuclear weapons and international security. Hecker has documented the history of post-Soviet Russian - American nuclear cooperation in the highly acclaimed Doomed to Cooperate. His scientific and diplomatic achievements have been recognized internationally, including the presidential Enrico Fermi Award, the American Nuclear Society's Eisenhower Medal and election to the National Academy of Engineering.Elliot A. Serbin worked with Siegfried Hecker at Stanford University from 2016 to 2020. Serbin supported the Nuclear Risk Reduction Project and extensively researched the history and status of North Korea's nuclear program. Serbin has most recently worked at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He is currently a student at Harvard University where he is pursuing a J.D. and an M.A. in Public Policy.

1. Introduction2. Nuclear Background3. The state of play prior to January 2004 trip.4. Would you like to see our product? The improbable visit to North Korea.5. Disastrous consequences of Bolton's hammer.6. 2005: Back to North Korea. Vice Minister Kim Gye Gwan - "No LWR, no deal." Bob Joseph - "No LWR till pigs fly."7. Kim Jong Il - Buying time.8. "Tell America, it worked and North Korean people are filled with pride."9. Back to the negotiating table.10. 2007 and 2008 visits. Back to Yongbyon to confirm disablement.11. 2008 - Almost there, but it all falls apart.12. 2009: You don't know how bad it will get."13. 2009 and 2010: Clenching the fist instead of reaching for Obama's outstretched hand.14. 2010 visit - "Tomorrow, you will have a bigger surprise."15. November 2010 to April 2012 - Leap Day Deal goes up in smoke along with DPRK rocket.16. Does the U.S. blow the Leap Day Deal up over one stupid rocket launch?17. From Strategic Patience to Benign Neglect.18. The "Fire and Fury" of 2017.19. From the Olympics to Singapore.20. The train wreck in Hanoi.21. Summary and closing observations.

North Korea remains a puzzle to Americans. How did this country-one of the most isolated in the world and in the policy cross hairs of every U.S. administration during the past 30 years-progress from zero nuclear weapons in 2001 to a threatening arsenal of perhaps 50 such weapons in 2021?