After the US assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities policymakers and analysts in East Asia were already grappling with a critical question: What signal does this send to North Korea, a country whose nuclear arsenal is far more advanced than Iran’s?

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association (ACA) has said that U.S. strikes may temporarily set back Iran's nuclear program, but would likely prove such weapons are needed for deterrence and that Washington is not interested in diplomacy.

The strikes potentially hardened Kim Jong Un’s determination to hold on to—and expand—his nuclear arsenal as a deterrent to any attack on North Korea.