Kim Jong-un can be seen in Seoul in an older TV recording.
Credit: AP/Lee Jin-man
A new law aims to cement North Korea’s status as a nuclear power. If the country is “imminently threatened”, the use of nuclear weapons is planned.
North Korea has approved a pre-emptive nuclear strike. At the same time, the isolated country classified its status as a nuclear weapons state as “irreversible”, as reported by state media on Friday. The background to this is the recently increasing tensions between the country and South Korea.
According to North Korea’s state news agency KCNA, the new law allows Pyongyang to “automatically” carry out a nuclear first strike and “instantly destroy enemy forces” if another state poses an imminent threat to North Korea. Leader Kim Jong-un said the new law “has made our country’s status as a nuclear-armed state irreversible.”
According to the KCNA, North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly approved the law on Thursday. It also prohibits any transfer of nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons technology to other countries.
Since January, North Korea has conducted a slew of weapons tests, including launching an ICBM. At the same time, it blamed hostile South Korea for the corona outbreak in the isolated country.
North Korea is preparing for its first nuclear test since 2017, observers say.
