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North Korea
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North Korea passes law to use nuclear weapons at first strike as Kim steps up rhetoric

  • Kim Jong-un told parliament that the new legislation makes Pyongyang’s nuclear status ‘irreversible’
  • The move comes as North Korea appears to be preparing to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 2017

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North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un addresses the country’s parliament in Pyongyang on September 8. Photo: KCNA/Reuters
Reuters
North Korea passed a law enshrining the right to use pre-emptive nuclear strikes to protect itself, a move leader Kim Jong-un said makes its nuclear status “irreversible” and bars any denuclearisation talks, state media reported on Friday.
The move comes as observers say North Korea appears to be preparing to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 2017, after historic summits with then-US president Donald Trump and other world leaders in 2018 failed to persuade Kim to abandon his weapons development.

The North’s rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, passed the law on Thursday, according to state news agency KCNA.

“The utmost significance of legislating nuclear weapons policy is to draw an irretrievable line so that there can be no bargaining over our nuclear weapons,” Kim said in a speech to the assembly, adding that he would never surrender the weapons even if the country faced 100 years of sanctions.

North Korea has already declared itself a nuclear weapons state in its constitution, but the new law goes beyond that to outline when nuclear weapons can be used, including to respond to an attack, or stop an invasion. It also allows for pre-emptive nuclear strikes if an imminent attack by weapons of mass destruction or against the country’s “strategic targets” is detected.

That is an apparent reference to South Korea’s “Kill Chain” strategy, which calls for preemptively striking the North’s nuclear infrastructure and command system if an imminent attack is suspected.
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