Kim Jong Un says North Korea will never give up nuclear program

Asia-Pacific, News September 10, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

North Korea’s parliament has passed a new law to strengthen its nuclear doctrine, enshrining the right to “automatically” use preemptive nuclear strikes to protect itself.

North Korea’s nuclear status is now ‘irreversible’. The law allows Pyongyang the right to use preemptive nuclear strikes to protect itself and to launch a nuclear attack if South Korea or the U.S. tries to remove its supreme leader Kim Jong Un.

According to North Korea’s state-owned media outlet, KCNA, the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea adopted the new law on September 9, 2022. As per the new law, the North Korean military would ‘automatically’ execute a nuclear strike against its enemies if the country’s leadership comes under attack.

Kim Jong Un delivered a speech to the parliament after the law was passed. “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,” Kim said in a speech to the assembly.

During his speech, he scrapped the idea of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula by stating that North Korea will never abandon its nuclear program under U.S. pressure. He also criticized rival South Korea over its plans to expand its conventional strike capabilities.

Kim described the military alliance between South Korea and the U.S. as a threat to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. He said that large-scale military exercises between the two countries pose an imminent threat to North Korea.

Kim also addressed domestic issues during his speech including his government’s policy to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Without specifying the number of doses and detailing any plans to administer the COVID-19 vaccination among the population of 26 million people, he said that North Korea would start to roll out a new vaccination program in November 2022.

Kim’s address comes only a day after South Korea proposed to hold talks with the North Korean leadership to arrange a reunion for the families on both sides that had been separated during the Korean War in 1950-53. However, considering Kim’s speech it is highly unlikely that he would accept the offer to talk.

^{People at a train station in Seoul, South Korea, watching a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea’s missile launch on May 25, 2022. (Image Credit: AP/Lee Jin-man)}

North Korea has ramped up weapons tests to unprecedented numbers this year, launching more than 30 ballistic weapons, including the first demonstrations of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) since 2017.

The tensions on Korean Peninsula have been on the rise in recent times. The U.S. military and intelligence services have warned that North Korea is ready to test its nuclear weapons in near future. At the end of last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also said that his country was “ready to mobilize” its nuclear deterrents.