North Korea nuclear weapons

2022 - 9 - 10

North Korea declares itself a nuclear weapons state (NPR)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will never abandon the nuclear weapons it needs to counter the United States, which he accused of pushing ...

Experts say its rhetoric around those missiles communicates a threat to proactively use them in warfare to blunt the stronger conventional forces of South Korea and the United States. officials said this week the Russians are in the process of purchasing North Korean ammunition, including artillery shells and rockets, to ease their supply shortages in the war against Ukraine. North Korea has repeatedly blamed the United States for the crisis in Ukraine, saying the West's "hegemonic policy" justified Russian military actions in Ukraine to protect itself. Kim has made increasingly provocative threats of nuclear conflict toward the United States and its allies in Asia, also warning that the North would proactively use its nuclear weapons when threatened. Experts say it's highly unlikely North Korea would accept the South's offer considering the stark deterioration in inter-Korean ties amid the stalemate in larger nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang. Those comments appeared to align with a ruling party decision in June to approve unspecified new operational duties for front-line troops, which analysts say likely include plans to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting rival South Korea along their tense border. GAVI, the nonprofit that runs the U.N.-backed COVAX distribution program, said in June it understood North Korea had accepted an offer of vaccines from China. troops are stationed in the South to deter aggression from the North. North Korea rejected previous offers by COVAX, likely because of international monitoring requirements, and has also ignored U.S. North Korea has been speeding its development of nuclear-capable, short-range missiles that can target South Korea since 2019. The new law spells out conditions where North would be inclined to use its nuclear weapons, including when it determines that its leadership is facing an imminent "nuclear or non-nuclear attack by hostile forces." Kim also addressed domestic issues, saying North Korea would begin its long-delayed rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in November.

North Korea passed legislation to declare country as 'nuclear ... (Minute Mirror)

In July, the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un declared that his country was prepared to mobilize its nuclear arsenal in the event of a conflict with ...

North Korea has conducted a series of weapons tests, including the first full-range launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in 2017. Discussions on sanctions relief since 2019, and what Pyongyang might be ready to give up in exchange have stalled nuclear negotiations and diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang. The official statement declaring the development came on Friday as relations between the North and South are deteriorating.

'Threat to peace, security': North Korea law on nuclear first strike ... (SBS)

The announcement by North Korea effectively eliminates the possibility of denuclearisation talks, with leader Kim Jong Un declaring the country's status as ...

The DPRK continues to not respond," she said, using the initials of North Korea's official name. "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," it quoted Kim as telling the assembly. A deputy at the North Korean assembly said the law would be a powerful legal guarantee for consolidating North Korea's position as a nuclear weapons state and ensuring the "transparent, consistent and standard character" of its nuclear policy, KCNA reported. "This new escalation on the part of the North Korean authorities represents a threat to international and regional peace and security," said a ministry spokeswoman. France on Friday condemned the new measures by North Korea as a "threat to international and regional peace and security". The secretary-general of the United Nations, which has long-standing sanctions on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, said he was "deeply concerned" by the new law and reiterated calls for Pyongyang to return to de-nuclearisation talks.

North Korea vows to 'automatically and immediately' launch nuclear ... (New York Post)

North Korea promised to “automatically and immediately” launch its nuclear weapons if the country's leader, Kim Jong Un is killed or incapacitated in an ...

[Politico](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2022/09/09/north-korea-will-automatically-launch-nukes-if-kim-killed-00055863). [told ](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220909000651325?input=tw) [North Korean media Friday.](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220909000651325?input=tw) [the law reads](https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1662721725-307939464/dprk%E2%80%99s-law-on-policy-of-nuclear-forces-promulgated).

North Korea Showcases to the World Its Dangerous Nuclear ... (19FortyFive)

In 2017, after declaring his deterrent “complete” after three intercontinental-range ballistic missile tests that year, Kim Jong Un turned to diplomacy with ...

He is the author of [Kim Jong Un and the Bomb: Survival and Deterrence in North Korea](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/kim-jong-un-and-the-bomb-9780190060367?cc=us&lang=en&) (Hurst Publishers/Oxford University Press, 2020). A wide-ranging five-year plan for defense modernization first announced in January 2021 is still ongoing and North Korea is expected to return to nuclear weapons testing— [probably for the development](https://carnegieendowment.org/publications/85426) of tactical nuclear weapons—later this fall. In this environment, the world should expect North Korea to carry on as it has for years now under Kim: in the pursuit of nuclear development on its own terms. [Ankit Panda](https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/1860) is the Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This dichotomy of “deterring” and “repelling” first appeared [explicitly in the 2013 law](https://kcnawatch.app/newstream/1451896124-739013370/law-on-consolidating-position-of-nuclear-weapons-state-adopted/). He indicated that North Korea’s denuclearization would only come when nuclear weapons were eliminated worldwide: “As long as nuclear weapons exist on Earth and imperialism remains … Every year that passes, the already implausible task of comprehensively striking at the totality of North Korea’s nuclear forces grows even more difficult for the United States and South Korea. As North Korea’s force grows and its strategic environment changes, events like this new law showcase a process of adaptation. Implicitly, the message here is that the United States and South Korea should not presume that working to sever Kim from his nuclear forces—either through cyber-attacks or conventional military attacks—or trying to kill Kim will spare them nuclear retaliation. For instance, the purposes of North Korea’s nuclear weapons are once again stated to have two primary purposes: to deter war and, if deterrence fails, to repel an invasion of North Korean territory. The updated law provides far greater detail in other areas, even as it repeats certain past assurances that North Korea has offered to the outside world. Through that time, however, the country’s national defense scientists and engineers were hard at work on the next phase of plans for the continued development of the country’s nuclear deterrent.

Kim vows N.Korea will never give up nukes (Central Queensland Today)

Seoul, Reuters. North Korea has passed a law enshrining the right to use pre-emptive nuclear strikes to protect itself, a move leader Kim Jong-un says makes ...

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. “As long as nuclear weapons remain on earth and imperialism remains and manoeuvres of the United States and its followers against our republic are not terminated, our work to strengthen nuclear force will not cease,” Kim said. A deputy at the assembly said the law would serve as a powerful legal guarantee for consolidating North Korea’s position as a nuclear weapons state and ensuring the “transparent, consistent and standard character” of its nuclear policy, KCNA reported.

'Threat to peace, security': North Korea's law on nuclear first strike ... (SBS)