With no oil reserves and limited coal reserves, North Korea is generally deficient in energy resources. However, it is rich in uranium and is ranked among the world’s top countries with graphite reserves. In 1953, shortly after the Korean War ended, Kim Il-sung told his senior officials that it is imperative that they acquire nuclear weapons, marking the starting point of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
But North Korea would not have succeeded without the backing of its powerful Communist allies, the Soviet Union and China.
