North Korea Specifies 'Nuclear Force' in Constitution... Military Warns "Regime Ends If Nuclear Weapons Are Used"

North Korea Opposes US WMD Response Strategy
'Nuclear Force Policy' Legalized and Also Specified in Constitution
Military: "If North Korea Attempts Nuclear Use, Regime Will End"

North Korea has followed up its constitutional enshrinement of the 'nuclear force policy' by retaliating against the checks imposed by South Korea and the United States. It is interpreted as engaging in a public opinion campaign to justify its possession of nuclear weapons by issuing six consecutive statements within a week. Our government repeatedly warned that if North Korea uses nuclear weapons, it will face the 'end of its regime.'

A spokesperson for the North Korean Ministry of Defense, in a statement released on the 4th via the Korean Central News Agency, referred to the inclusion of North Korea as a 'continuous threat' in the U.S. '2023 Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Strategy,' calling it "another serious military and political provocation." The spokesperson added, "Since the last century, the United States, which has defined the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as an 'enemy state' and has escalated unprecedented nuclear threats and accusations step by step, is the world's largest possessor of weapons of mass destruction and the only nuclear war criminal state, making this the most accurate description fitting the U.S."

North Korea specified the advancement of its nuclear forces in the Socialist Constitution at the Supreme People's Assembly attended by Chairman Kim Jong-un.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, North Korea specified the content of 'advancing nuclear weapons development' in its socialist constitution during the 9th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly held on the 26th-27th of last month. This secured the nuclear force policy, which had been codified in law for one year, into the highest national law, the constitution. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Defense, in its 2023 WMD Strategy released on the 28th of last month (local time), evaluated that "North Korea prioritizes its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile forces," and "North Korea's capability development provides the option to use nuclear weapons at any stage of physical conflict."

In the statement on the same day, North Korea recalled the constitutional enshrinement of 'advancing nuclear force' and threatened, "The Republic's armed forces will faithfully fulfill their honorable combat mission newly specified in the highest law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea according to the unanimous will of the entire Korean people." Targeting the deployment of U.S. strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula, it claimed, "The reckless actions of the United States, which has even brought strategic nuclear submarines equipped with nuclear warheads capable of completely destroying a single country to the Korean Peninsula region, constitute the most serious weapons of mass destruction threat that could destroy the entire globe."

Our military authorities issued a statement on the same day, warning once again of the 'end.' The Ministry of National Defense pointed out North Korea's constitutional enshrinement of 'advancing nuclear force,' stating, "Despite the collapsed livelihood of its people, North Korea has further openly expressed its ambition to enhance its nuclear capabilities along with its refusal to denuclearize." It added, "North Korea will become more isolated, and the suffering of its people will deepen. Our military maintains a combined ROK-U.S. readiness posture capable of overwhelmingly responding to any North Korean attack, and if North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the end of its regime."

North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un is pointing at a map of the South and instructing, "Accelerate the preparation for war more offensively."
[Image source=Yonhap News]

North Korea has been steadily engaging in a public opinion campaign following the constitutional enshrinement of its nuclear force policy. Starting with a statement issued under the name of Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, followed by statements from the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, the Ministry of Atomic Energy Industry, and the Ministry of Defense spokesperson, six statements have been released within a week. Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, analyzed, "The consecutive statements mainly reject the UN sanctions against North Korea and assert the legitimacy of constitutionalizing nuclear force, expressing a determination not to lose the logical battle with the international community."

Jung Sung-jang, head of the Unification Strategy Research Division at the Sejong Institute, rebutted, "Although Kim Jong-un insisted in his Supreme People's Assembly speech that the ROK-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) is a 'large-scale joint military exercise for nuclear war,' the U.S. Forces Korea do not possess any nuclear weapons, and the NCG is merely a body to discuss responses to North Korea's nuclear attacks." He further pointed out, "North Korea's behavior of only criticizing South Korea and the United States' countermeasures while completely ignoring its own explicit nuclear threats against the South since last year is a brazen and hypocritical logic."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.