North Korea passes law authorizing preemptive nuclear strikes

Launch of a North Korean missile.

Photo courtesy of North Korea's official Central News Agency (KCNA).

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North Korea has passed a law authorizing it to carry out a pre-emptive atomic strike that also declares the country's nuclear power status " 

 ", state media reported on Friday (September 9th).

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This is a new escalation in the file of the North Korean nuclear arsenal: Pyongyang has just adopted a law authorizing it to carry out a preventive atomic strike and declaring " 

 " the status of nuclear power of the country, indicated this Friday, September 9 state media.

This announcement comes in a context of tense inter-Korean relations.

Pyongyang has conducted a record number of missile tests this year, and has blamed Seoul for the recent Covid-19 outbreak that hit the country.

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This law will therefore allow the North Korean regime to launch a preventive nuclear strike “

” and “ 

” if a foreign power were to threaten Pyongyang, according to the state agency KCNA.

In July, the North Korean leader said his country was also "

" its nuclear deterrent force in the event of a possible military confrontation with the United States and South Korea.

"

 ", he declared, on September 8, in a speech before the North Parliament -Korean, according to KCNA.

 North Korea carried out a record series of weapons tests in 2022, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time since 2017. US and South Korean officials have repeatedly warned that the North is preparing to conduct what would become its seventh nuclear test.

The unresolved question of sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give in return has stalled since 2019 and nuclear weapons negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.

Help plan

Last month, Seoul offered a major aid package to North Korea, including food, energy, but also aid for the modernization of infrastructure, in exchange for denuclearization.

North Korea, however, rejected the offer, calling it "the 

".

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said last month that his government had no plans to provide the country with a nuclear deterrent.

At the end of August, the United States and South Korea conducted their largest joint military exercises since 2018 in the face of the growing nuclear threat from North Korea.

Washington, a close security ally, is stationing some 28,500 American troops in South Korea to protect Seoul from its northern neighbor.

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