North Korea Officially declares itself a nuclear state

The North Korean nuclear weapons dossier has witnessed a new escalation, with Pyongyang passing a law declaring its readiness to carry out pre-emptive nuclear strikes, including in response to attacks with conventional weapons, state media reported Friday.

The decision clears any possibility of negotiating the denuclearization of North Korea, with leader Kim Jong Un declaring that his country’s status as a nuclear power is irreversible.

The announcement was made in light of the tense relations between the two Koreas, as Pyongyang accused Seoul of bearing responsibility for the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic on its soil, threatening its neighbor with retaliation.

This year, North Korea conducted a record number of missile tests despite sanctions, including the test of an ICBM for the first time since 2017.

The text allows North Korea, if it is facing a threat from a foreign power, to launch a pre-emptive strike “automatically and immediately to eliminate hostile forces,” according to the North Korean news agency.

In Washington, a State Department spokesperson did not comment directly on the issue of the law, only reminding that the United States remains “committed… to the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”.

“We have clearly declared that we have no aggressive intentions” toward North Korea and “we are ready to meet without preconditions,” he said, “which Pyongyang continues to reject”.

The law states that the regime can use nuclear weapons “in the event that hostile forces launch a nuclear or non-nuclear attack on the leaders of the state or the command body of nuclear forces,” as in other cases, according to the agency.

Kim had confirmed in July that his country was “ready to deploy” its nuclear deterrent in the event of a military confrontation with the United States and South Korea.

“Abandoning nuclear weapons is absolutely out of the question, and there can be no denuclearization or negotiation,” he said Thursday in a speech to the North Korean parliament, according to the official news agency.

Cheong Seong-chang of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute told AFP that the new law proves Kim Jong-un’s confidence in his country’s nuclear and military capabilities, especially in its intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets in the United States.

Xiong said the law “publicly justifies Pyongyang’s use of nuclear weapons”, particularly in response to a non-nuclear attack.

He added, “Kim Jong Un doesn’t need laws to launch a nuclear strike,” but the new doctrine “justifies his use of nuclear weapons in emergency situations by revealing in advance the principles of nuclear use in the country and abroad”.

North Korea has conducted a record series of military tests this year, most notably the launch of an ICBM for the first time since 2017.

US and South Korean officials have repeatedly warned that the North is preparing for a new nuclear test.

Talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons have been stalled since early 2019 when the Hanoi summit between former US President Donald Trump and leader Kim collapsed over sanctions relief and what North Korea might be willing to give up in exchange.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, considered that the new law clearly confirms once again the position of Pyongyang, which believes that negotiations on denuclearization are no longer up for negotiation.

“Pyongyang will likely have closer relations with China and Russia against Washington and… Will conduct a seventh nuclear test in the near future,” he told AFP.

Last month, Seoul offered the North a massive aid plan in terms of food, energy and even infrastructure upgrades in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons.

However, Pyongyang rejected the offer, calling it “the height of absurdity”.

South Korean President Yoon Sok-yeol confirmed last month that his government had no intention of acquiring a nuclear deterrent.

Washington is a close ally of Seoul on the security front, and about 28,500 US troops are deployed in South Korea to protect it from the North.