The U.S. should prepare to modernize its nuclear weapons storage facilities in South Korea as a signal of resolve and preparedness against North Korea’s evolving nuclear threat, according to Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation.

In an interview with NK News, Bennett said Washington should consider publicly threatening to upgrade long-unused U.S. nuclear storage infrastructure on the Korean Peninsula if Pyongyang refuses to halt its weapons buildup or return to talks. Such a move, he suggested, could serve as a nonescalatory yet credible form of pressure on Kim Jong Un.