[1/4]The 9th session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is held at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, North Korea. This image was captured by Portal on September 28, 2023. KCNA acquires licensing rights through Portal
SEOUL, Sept 28 (Portal) – North Korea has adopted a constitutional amendment to enshrine its nuclear policy, state media reported on Thursday. The country’s leader vowed to speed up the production of nuclear weapons to prevent what he described as US provocations.
The Supreme People’s Assembly unanimously adopted the amendment that says North Korea is “developing strong nuclear weapons to ensure its “existence rights” and “deter war,” KCNA news agency reported after the conclusion of a two-day session on Wednesday in the North’s rubber-stamp parliament.
“The policy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to build up nuclear forces has become the basic law of the state, which no one can violate with anything,” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told parliament. DPRK are the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Kim further emphasized: “The need to advance work on exponentially increasing the production of nuclear weapons, diversifying nuclear means of attack and using them in various fields.”
And he said U.S. military exercises and use of strategic assets in the region were extreme provocations.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the revised constitution shows Pyongyang’s “strong will” not to give up its nuclear program.
“We reiterate that North Korea will face the end of its regime if it uses nuclear weapons,” it warned in a statement.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said: “North Korea’s nuclear and missile development poses a threat to the peace and security of our country and the international community and can never be tolerated.”
The change comes a year after North Korea officially enshrined in law the right to pre-empt nuclear attacks to protect itself. Kim had said the move would make his nuclear status “irreversible.”
Kim urged officials to continue promoting solidarity with nations that oppose the United States and condemned trilateral cooperation between the United States, South Korea and Japan as the “Asian version of NATO.”
“This is merely the worst actual threat, not threatening rhetoric or an imaginary entity,” he said.
Kim returned home last week from a trip to Russia during which he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to strengthen military and economic cooperation.
U.S. and South Korean officials expressed concern that Pyongyang could seek technical assistance for its nuclear and missile programs as Moscow seeks to procure munitions from the North to replenish its dwindling supplies for the war in Ukraine.
Analysts said enshrining nuclear policy in the constitution was a symbolic step and signaled the North’s intention to have a permanent nuclear force, which it would not negotiate.
“The new Cold War in the Northeast Asian region and military tensions on the Korean Peninsula will intensify,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
On Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol warned Pyongyang of an “overwhelming response” if it uses nuclear weapons, as Seoul staged its first large-scale military parade in a decade in a show of force.
Parliament’s announcement also came after North Korean state media said on Wednesday that Pyongyang had decided to expel U.S. soldier Travis King, who ran into North Korea in July. The U.S. said he was now in American custody and on his way home after being deported to China.
In his speech, Kim said that “the most urgent task for the government” is to fundamentally revamp the country’s economy and called on the agricultural sector to work harder to promote people’s well-being.
The North has suffered severe food shortages in recent decades, including a famine in the 1990s, often as a result of natural disasters, and international experts have warned that border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic are worsening food security.
Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Edited by Ed Davies, Josie Kao, Lincoln Feast and Simon Cameron-Moore
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