PYONGYANG — North Korea has passed a law allowing it to carry out a preemptive nuclear strike and declare its status as an “irreversible” nuclear-weapon state, state media in Pyongyang said on Friday.
The announcement comes at a time when North-South relations are collapsing, with Pyongyang blaming Seoul for the COVID-19 outbreak in its territory and carrying out a record number of weapons tests this year.
The law will allow North Korea to “automatically” conduct a preemptive nuclear strike and “immediately destroy enemy forces” if a foreign country poses an imminent threat to Pyongyang, the official KCNA news agency said.
With the recently enacted law, “our country’s status as a nuclear-weapon state has become irreversible,” leader Kim Jong Un said, according to KCNA.
Kim said in July that his country was “ready to mobilize its nuclear capabilities in any war with the United States and the South.”
He reiterated that Pyongyang would never give up the nuclear weapons it needs to counter Washington’s hostilities and said the United States would seek to “overthrow” his regime at any time.
Nuclear talks and diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang have been derailed since 2019 over the lifting of sanctions and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.
“There is absolutely no way to give up nuclear weapons first, and there is no denuclearization or negotiations,” leader Kim said during a speech to North Korea’s parliament on Thursday.
The new law shows Kim’s confidence in his country’s nuclear and military prowess, including its ICBMs that could strike the United States, said Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute’s Center for North Korean Studies.
The law “publicly justifies Pyongyang’s use of its nuclear power” in the event of a military confrontation, including in response to non-nuclear attacks, Cheong was quoted by AFP.
HEIGHT OF ABSURDITY
A blitz of North Korean weapons testing since January has included the launch of a full-range ICBM for the first time since 2017.
Officials in Washington and South Korea have repeatedly warned that the North is preparing to carry out its seventh nuclear test.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said the North’s recent announcement clearly confirms Pyongyang’s position – that nuclear talks are no longer on the table.
“Pyongyang is likely to forge closer ties with China and Russia against Washington and … launch its seventh nuclear test in the near future,” he said.
Seoul, Washington’s main security ally, last month offered Pyongyang a “bold” aid package that would include food, energy and infrastructure aid in exchange for the North abandoning its program of nuclear weapons.
But Pyongyang scoffed at the offer, calling it “the height of absurdity” and a deal the North would never agree to.
Warmongering South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said last month that his government had no plans to pursue its own nuclear deterrent.
