North Korea's new law designating itself as a nuclear weapons state is something its leader, Kim Jong Un, has called "irreversible."As he celebrated the law's adoption, Kim pledged his nation would "never give up" its nuclear weapons and said there could be no talks on denuclearization, according to North Korean official media.
The updated position of Pyongyang, which had previously stated that it would only preserve its weapons until other nations de-nuclearized and would not use them proactively against non-nuclear states, also includes the right to deploy nuclear strikes as a means of self-defense.
Kim expressed his appreciation for the Supreme People's Assembly's decision to ratify the new law with a unanimous vote, calling nuclear weapons "the dignity, body, and ultimate might of the state."The enactment of rules and regulations pertaining to the national nuclear force policy is a historic occasion, according to Kim, as it represents our declaration that we have legally gained war deterrence as a tool of national defense.
Our journey to bolstering our nuclear force will never come to an end as long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, imperialism, and US and its allies' anti-North Korean actions.Additionally prohibited by the new law is the transfer of nuclear technology to other nations.It happens as regional tensions over North Korea's growing nuclear and missile programs are escalating.
In recent months, Kim has issued a series of aggressive nuclear war threats to the United States and its allies in Asia.The US has grown more anxious that North Korea may be getting ready to conduct its first underground nuclear test in years at the same time.The rule, according to Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, shows Pyongyang's desire to improve ties with China and Russia at a time of heightened international tensions.
Even though North Korea describes nuclear weapons as a last resort, Yang added that the country's statement of the prospect of utilizing them if and when a state or its leader are under attack is noteworthy.The US emphasized the goal of "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula when it revised its North Korea strategy last year. The Vice President pledged to pursue it using a combination of diplomacy and "stern deterrence," to which Kim responded that his country needs to be prepared for both "conversation and confrontation."
References
https://greekreporter.com/2022/09/09/north-korea-declares-itself-a-nuclear-weapons-state/