North Korea authorizes itself to carry out a preventive nuclear strike in the event of a threat

Published on: 09/09/2022 – 12:03 A law passed by Pyongyang makes the nuclear program “irreversible” and authorizes an atomic strike, including in the face of conventional attacks. This decision also excludes the possibility of denuclearization talks. New escalation in the North Korean nuclear file. Pyongyang has passed a law authorizing it to carry out a pre-emptive atomic strike and declaring the country’s status as a nuclear power “irreversible”, state media said on Friday (September 9th). The announcement comes amid strained inter-Korean relations . Pyongyang has conducted a record number of missile tests this year and blamed Seoul for the recent Covid-19 outbreak in North Korea. The new law will allow the North Korean regime to launch a preemptive nuclear strike “automatically” and “immediately to annihilate hostile forces” if a foreign power were to threaten Pyongyang, according to the state agency KCNA. Under this new text, “the status of our country as a state endowed with nuclear weapon has become irreversible,” said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to the same source. The atomic bomb in response to a non-nuclear attackIn July, Kim Jong Un said his country was deploy “its nuclear deterrent force in the event of a military confrontation with the United States and South Korea.” It is totally out of the question (for us) to give up nuclear weapons, and there can be no denuclearization or negotiation,” said -he assured Thursday in a speech before the North Korean Parliament, according to KCNA. United, Cheong Seong-chang of the center for North Korean studies at the Sejong institute told AFP. This law “publicly justifies the use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang”, in particular in response to an attack North Korea conducted a record series of weapons tests this year, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time since 2017. U.S. and South officials -Koreans have repeatedly warned that the North is preparing to conduct another nuclear test. The unresolved question of sanctions relief and possible concessions by Pyongyang in return has interrupted negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang since 2019. Last month, Seoul offered a major aid plan to North Korea, including food, energy, but also support for the modernization of infrastructure, in exchange of denuclearization. North Korea, however, rejected the offer, calling it “the height of absurdity”. For Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies, the new text clearly reaffirms the position of Pyongyang, which considers that negotiations on denuclearization are no longer on the agenda. “Pyongyang will probably forge closer ties with China and Russia against Washington, and (…) conduct a seventh nuclear test in the near future,” he told AFP. With AFP