North Korea enshrines its status as a nuclear state in the Constitution

It is a day that will be remembered in North Korea. The country has enshrined its status as a nuclear state in the Constitution, “that no one is allowed to flout“, declared its leader Kim Jong-Un, in a speech reported Thursday, September 28 in the morning by the KCNA news agency.

“The policy of building the nuclear force of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, editor’s note) has become permanent as a fundamental law of the state” announced the North Korean dictator, using North Korea’s official acronym.

He added, during a meeting of the People’s Assembly held Tuesday and Wednesday, “that no one is allowed to flout” the fundamental law of the stateaccording to the official KCNA agency.

A year ago, North Korea, which had already carried out six nuclear tests from 2006 to 2017announced a new doctrine making its status as a nuclear power “irreversible”, and authorizing it to carry out a preemptive atomic strike in the event of an existential threat against his regime.

“A historic event”

By registering this time the status of a nuclear state in the Constitution itself, the Assembly went even further, dimming hopes of North Korea’s denuclearization. “It’s about of a historical event which provides powerful political leverage to remarkably strengthen national defense capabilities,” Kim Jong-Un said, according to the KCNA agency.

The North Korean leader also accused Washington, Seoul and Tokyo of having formed a “triangular military alliance” which “ultimately resulted in the emergence of an Asian version of NATO, the primary cause of war and aggression.” “This is about the worst real threatand not from threatening rhetoric or an imaginary entity,” added Kim Jong-Un.

At the UN forum at the end of September, Pyongyang warned, through its ambassador to the United Nations, that the Korean peninsula was “on the brink of nuclear war”, pointing the finger at American policy in Asia. Western observers fear that Pyongyang carries out another nuclear testthe seventh in its history, the first since 2017.

US-South Korean alliance threatens Pyongyang

“If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be stopped by an overwhelming response from the US-South Korean alliance“, warned South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

North Korea has increased its testing of banned weapons this year. During the last of these tests, on September 13, it fired two short-range ballistic missileswhile Kim was in Russia for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Last month, Pyongyang failed in its second attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit. In reaction, South Korea and the United States strengthened defense cooperationby organizing joint exercises as well as naval maneuvers with Japan.

Relations at rock bottom between the two Koreas

Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years and diplomacy is at a standstill after the failure of attempts to discuss the denuclearization of Pyongyang.

On September 2, North Korea organized a “tactical nuclear attack simulation” exercise with mock atomic warheads attached to two long-range cruise missiles that were fired into the ocean, KCNA previously reported.

The state agency said the operation was a response to joint military activities by U.S. and South Korean forces, which it said worsened tensions in the region.

Kim Jong-Un’s week-long visit to Russia, his first abroad since the coronavirus pandemic, has reignited Western fears of see Moscow and Pyongyang defy sanctions and conclude an arms deal.

Moscow would be interested in purchasing North Korean munitions to continue the fighting in Ukraine, while Pyongyang would like Russia’s help to develop its missile program, condemned by the international community.