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North Korea has continued to pursue the development of nuclear weapons over the past several decades despite unprecedentedly strong economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation from the international community. The primary reason for the North Korean authorities’ unwavering commitment to nuclear development, even at the cost of economic and diplomatic hardship, is the formidable military deterrence that nuclear weapons provide. However, this is not the sole factor. Internally, nuclear weapons serve as a political tool to reinforce the survival, legitimacy, and cohesion of the regime. Nevertheless, though North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, acquired through its long-standing nuclear development efforts, is firmly established, little is known about the positions and attitudes of North Korean people toward the state’s possession of nuclear weapons. In particular, it is unclear how North Koreans view their government’s possession of nuclear weapons and what factors influence these views. To address these questions, this paper analyzes the impact of the external threat perceptions, internal ideology, and social experiences of North Korean defectors on their attitudes toward North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons. For this analysis, interviews were conducted with 1,241 North Korean defectors within one year of their defection from North Korea between 2011 and 2020.