Top News Kremlin shrugs off U.S. call to scrap nuclear-capable missile Reuters A Cold War Arms Treaty Is Unraveling. But the Problem Is Much Bigger. New York Times India test fires nuclear capable Agni-5 missile, 2nd test in six months Economic Times East Asia North Korea Is Building More Nuclear Weapons and Missiles (Don’t Be Shocked) National Interest12/7/2018 President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may or may not be meeting again early next year for their second blockbuster summit. But just because preparations are in the works doesn’t mean Pyongyang is going to stop the nuclear locomotive from barreling full steam ahead. Will Kim Jong-un Visit Seoul This Month? South Korea Is Holding Its Breath New York Times12/10/2018 South Korea is holding its breath for what its president, Moon Jae-in, has repeatedly said could happen by the end of December: Kim Jong-un’s visit to Seoul, which would be a first for a North Korean leader. Trump reportedly demanding more funding from South Korea for American troops’ presence The Hill12/8/2018 President Trump is demanding that South Korea increase their funding for American troops deployed on the peninsula, according to The Wall Street Journal. Russia/FSU/Europe Kremlin shrugs off U.S. call to scrap nuclear-capable missile Reuters12/7/2018 The Kremlin shrugged off a U.S. call for it to scrap a nuclear-capable missile on Friday, saying it was in compliance with the Cold-War era arms control treaty Washington accuses the missile of violating. South Asia India test fires nuclear capable Agni-5 missile, 2nd test in six months Economic Times12/10/2018 Indigenously developed surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-5 has been successfully test-fired from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast, according to reports. Opinion and Analysis A Cold War Arms Treaty Is Unraveling. But the Problem Is Much Bigger. New York TimesDavid E. Sanger and William J. Broad 12/9/2018 After the United States delivered an ultimatum to Russia last week that it was preparing to abandon a landmark weapons treaty, drawing a combative response from President Vladimir V. Putin, the specter of a rekindled nuclear arms race was widely seen as a rewind of the Cold War. It’s Not Too Late to Save the INF Treaty Foreign PolicyJon Wolfsthal 12/7/2018 The United States is on the verge of withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which bans the United States and Russia from having nuclear or conventional ground-based missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles). Bad Idea: Ignoring the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Defense360Bernadette Stadler and Suzanne Claeys 12/6/2018 The United States has done little to engage with the Ban Treaty or its supporters. But ignoring the Ban Treaty is a bad idea that will exacerbate the divide between nuclear and non-nuclear states and could lead to a dangerously uneven pace of international disarmament.