The Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK adopted a law "On the policy of the DPRK towards nuclear armed forces", which legally secured the status of a nuclear power for the republic.

The text of the document is published on the website of the Central News Agency of Korea (KCNA).

According to the new law, nuclear forces are of key importance for the defense of the DPRK from external military threats.

Their "primary mission" is to force hostile states "to refrain from attempting aggression."

“The nuclear armed forces of the DPRK are a powerful means of protecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity and fundamental interests of the state, preventing war on the Korean Peninsula and in the Northeast Asian region, and ensuring global strategic stability,” the document says.

It also asserts that Pyongyang is pursuing a "responsible policy towards nuclear armed forces" and that the republic will ensure the security of the storage and operation of nuclear arsenals.

North Korea also pledged to take "consistent protective measures" to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, nuclear technology, and radioactive materials.

Refusal to negotiate

As noted in the new law, the nuclear forces of the DPRK can be used in response to various forms of attack on the country or when there is a real danger of aggression using atomic warheads.

According to the law, if hostile forces pose a threat to the system of command and control over the nuclear forces of the DPRK, they will be "automatically and immediately delivered a nuclear strike in accordance with a previously drawn up operational plan."

Thus, the hostile forces themselves, the "source of provocation" and the enemy's command post, are destroyed.

The decision to use nuclear weapons is made exclusively by the Chairman of the State Council.

The position has been held by Kim Jong-un since 2011.

Commenting on the new legislative initiative, the DPRK leader said that Pyongyang could deliver a preventive nuclear strike if the country faced the prospect of imminent aggression.

As Kim Jong-un emphasized, speaking before the Supreme People's Assembly, the possession of a nuclear arsenal is a legitimate and inalienable right of the country.

For this reason, Pyongyang refuses to conduct any negotiations on denuclearization.

According to the leader of North Korea, the republic must effectively contain the United States.

“We will not give up the right to self-defense, on which the existence of the country, the security of the people and the state depend, no matter how difficult the situation is.

Whatever the situation created by the United States in the political and military spheres on the Korean Peninsula, we will not be able to abandon nuclear weapons, since it is necessary to deter the US nuclear state, ”TASS quoted Kim Jong-un as saying.

In turn, the secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, deputy Pak Chong-chon, said that the republic is exposed to "the constant nuclear threat of the American imperialists."

According to him, the strengthening of nuclear forces is a response to the provocative policy of the United States.

"Strategic Relations"

Speaking at the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un said that Pyongyang will develop nuclear forces by all means.

In particular, North Korea intends to continue to diversify the means of using nuclear weapons, expand the space for conducting tactical nuclear operations, and improve the operational efficiency and reliability of nuclear forces.

According to the KCNA, other statesmen who spoke at the Supreme People's Assembly supported the plans announced by Kim Jong-un.

They also stated that the country's nuclear forces were created "at a dear price for our people and their untold suffering."

  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

  • AFP

  • © KCNA VIA KNS

The law on nuclear forces of the DPRK caused a negative reaction from the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region (APR).

Thus, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre told reporters that Washington does not harbor hostile intentions towards Pyongyang, but is determined to continue the course towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Earlier, Japan reacted to the legally fixed status of the DPRK.

At a press conference on Friday, Cabinet Secretary General Hirokazu Matsuno said that North Korea's nuclear missile program "threatens the security of our country and the entire international community."

He stressed that Tokyo will continue to "work closely with the United States and South Korea on the complete denuclearization of North Korea."

It should be noted that shortly before the declaration of the nuclear status of the DPRK, for the first time since 2016, a meeting was held between the Deputy Defense Ministers of South Korea and Japan, Sin Beom Chol and Masami Oki.

Representatives of the military departments of the two states said that the trilateral cooperation between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo is important for "containment" of nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

China, friendly to Pyongyang, refrained from specific comments on the law "On the policy of the DPRK towards nuclear armed forces."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning told reporters that the Chinese government has not changed its position on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula and continues to advocate for its political settlement.

On September 9, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Kim Jong-un on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the founding of the republic.

In it, he said that Beijing is ready to maintain "strategic ties" with the DPRK, "strengthen coordination and cooperation, and jointly maintain, strengthen and develop relations between the two countries."

Russian President Vladimir Putin also congratulated Kim Jong-un on the 74th anniversary of the founding of the republic.

The Russian leader's telegram stated that "Russia and the DPRK will continue to develop constructive bilateral relations aimed at strengthening stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia through joint efforts."

The only guarantee

According to experts interviewed by RT, in the near future Pyongyang may resume nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Recall that earlier the DPRK imposed a moratorium on such actions in exchange for the suspension of major military maneuvers involving the United States and South Korea.

Such agreements were the fruit of a dialogue between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, who served as President of the United States in 2017-2021.

However, despite some progress in relations, the White House then failed to resolve the crisis.

Pyongyang demanded real security guarantees and a significant easing of sanctions.

At the same time, the United States insisted on the complete denuclearization of the DPRK without serious concessions on its part.

  • Test launch of North Korean ICBMs

  • AFP

  • © KCNA VIA KNS

Since Joe Biden took the highest state post in the United States, Washington's course in this direction has not fundamentally changed.

In early 2022, Kim Jong-un stated that "the hostile policy and military threat from the United States has reached a dangerous point that can no longer be ignored."

“Over the past few years since the DPRK-US summit, Washington has carried out hundreds of military maneuvers, supplying South Korea with ultra-modern weapons and deploying strategic nuclear weapons in the area of ​​the Korean Peninsula, thereby threatening our state,” the North Korean leader said at the time.

As Alexander Vorontsov, head of the department of Korea and Mongolia at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, suggested in a RT commentary, since 2021, Pyongyang has been closely observing the policies of the Biden administration and has come to the conclusion that the United States has decided to continue the course of military-political pressure on the DPRK.

“For Pyongyang, everything fell into place.

This year, the leadership of the DPRK finally realized that the United States will not ease sanctions and military pressure, which means that there is no point in maintaining previous agreements with the Americans.

In such a situation, Pyongyang was left with no choice but to continue to strengthen its nuclear forces,” says Vorontsov.

According to him, North Korea considers nuclear weapons as the only guarantor of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Also, Vorontsov stated, Pyongyang cannot ignore the general increase in geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific region due to the creation of AUKUS and the open support of Taiwanese separatism by the United States.

“In recent years, the situation has not become better either for the DPRK or for the Asia-Pacific as a whole.

Under such conditions, North Korea seeks to strengthen its defense capability and prevent any attempts of aggression by hostile states,” says Vorontsov.

A similar point of view is shared by Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In an RT commentary, he suggested that Pyongyang was seriously afraid of armed aggression against the backdrop of destabilization in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Pyongyang perceived the behavior of Washington as a deceit.

In this regard, the law on nuclear forces is intended to demonstrate the readiness of the DPRK to act without regard to previous agreements with the United States in order to defend its security," Kozyulin said.