North Korea has officially enshrined the right to use pre-emptive nuclear strikes to protect itself in a new law.
Key points:
- New law makes North Korea’s nuclear status ‘irreversible’ and bans denuclearization talks
- It also allows for pre-emptive nuclear strikes if, among other things, there is an imminent attack on its leadership
- Analysts say the aim is to gain international acceptance of the country’s status as a “responsible nuclear state”
The country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, said the legislation also made its nuclear status “irreversible” and bans talks on denuclearization, state media reported Friday.
The move comes as observers say North Korea appears to be preparing to resume nuclear tests for the first time since 2017, after historic summits with former US President Donald Trump and other world leaders in 2018 failed to they persuaded Kim to end weapons development.
The north’s parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, approved the legislation on Thursday, according to state news agency KCNA.
The new legislation is a replacement for a 2013 law that first outlined the country’s nuclear status.
The Supreme People’s Assembly approved the law on Thursday. (Korea Central News Agency / Korea News Service via AP)
“The utmost importance of legislating nuclear weapons policy is to draw an irretrievable line so that there will be no negotiations on our nuclear weapons,” Kim Jong Un said in a speech to the assembly.
He added that he would never surrender his weapons, even if the country faced 100 years of sanctions.
Among the scenarios that could trigger a nuclear attack would be the threat of an imminent nuclear attack; if the country’s leadership, people or existence were threatened; or to gain the advantage during a war, among other reasons.
A member of the assembly said the law would serve as a powerful legal safeguard to cement North Korea’s position as a nuclear weapons state and ensure the “transparent, consistent and standard nature” of its nuclear policy. report KCNA.
“Actually explaining terms of use are particularly rare,” said Rob York, director of regional affairs for the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum.
“It may simply be a product of North Korea’s position, how much it values nuclear weapons and how essential it sees them to its survival.”
Preventive strikes
The original 2013 law stipulated that North Korea could use nuclear weapons to repel invasion or attack by a hostile nuclear state and carry out retaliatory strikes.
The new law goes further to allow pre-emptive nuclear strikes if an imminent attack with weapons of mass destruction or against the country’s “strategic targets,” including its leadership, is detected.
“Simply put, there are some really vague and ambiguous circumstances under which North Korea is now saying it could use its nuclear weapons,” Chad O’Carroll, founder of the North Korea-tracking website NK News, told Twitter.
Like the previous law, the new version promises not to threaten non-nuclear states with nuclear weapons unless they join a nuclear-armed country in attacking the North.
The new law adds, however, that it can launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike if it detects an imminent attack of any kind on North Korea’s leadership and the command organization of its nuclear forces.
This is an apparent reference to South Korea’s “Kill Chain” strategy, which calls for pre-emptive strikes against North Korea’s nuclear infrastructure and command system if an imminent attack is suspected.
Kim cited Kill Chain, part of a three-pronged military strategy being pushed under new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, as a sign that the situation is deteriorating and that Pyongyang has to prepare for long-term tensions.
According to the law, Kim has “all decision-making powers” over nuclear weapons, but if the command and control system is threatened, then the nuclear weapons can be launched “automatically.”
If Mr. Kim delegates launch authority to lower commanders during a crisis, that could increase the chances of a catastrophic miscalculation, analysts said.
“Responsible Nuclear State”
The law prohibits any exchange of nuclear weapons or technology with other countries, and aims to reduce the danger of nuclear war by preventing miscalculations between nuclear-armed states and the misuse of nuclear weapons, KCNA reported .
Analysts say Kim’s goal is to gain international acceptance of North Korea’s status as a “responsible nuclear state.”
US President Joe Biden’s administration has offered to talk to Mr Kim anytime, anywhere, and Yoon has said his country would provide massive amounts of economic aid if Pyongyang began to step down in his arsenal.
South Korea offered on Thursday to hold talks with North Korea over the reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, in its first direct overture under Yoon, despite strained cross-border ties.
However, North Korea has rejected these overtures, saying the US and its allies maintain “hostile policies” such as sanctions and military exercises that undermine their messages of peace.
“As long as nuclear weapons remain on earth and imperialism remains and the maneuvers of the United States and its supporters against our republic do not end, our work to strengthen nuclear power will not stop,” he said. said Kim.
Reuters