Pyongyang has passed a law allowing it to launch pre-emptive nuclear strikes and calling the country’s nuclear power status “irreversible,” meaning that negotiations to denuclearize it are out of the question, the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported today.

The news comes amid an atmosphere of tension in inter-Korean relations.

Pyongyang has conducted a record number of weapons tests this year, while blaming Seoul for being responsible for the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic that has recently hit North Korea.

The law allows Pyongyang to launch preemptive nuclear strikes “automatically” and “immediately” to destroy enemy forces if any foreign power threatens North Korea, KCNA reports.

With this new text, “our country’s status as a nuclear-weapon state becomes irreversible,” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said, according to the same source.

As early as July, Mr. Kim announced that his country was “ready to deploy” its nuclear deterrent in the event of a conflict with the US and South Korea.

“Abandonment (for North Korea) of nuclear weapons is absolutely out of the question, and there will be no denuclearization or negotiations,” he said yesterday during a speech to the North Korean parliament, KCNA reports.

“Peak of Absurdity”

North Korea test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) this year, including for the first time since 2017.

US and South Korean officials have repeatedly warned in recent days that Pyongyang is preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear weapons test.

The unresolved issue of lifting sanctions and what Pyongyang is ready to do in return became the reason for the completion in 2019 of negotiations on North Korean arms programs between Washington and Pyongyang.

Last month, Seoul hinted at a plan to give Pyongyang a massive aid package, including food, energy and help with infrastructure upgrades, in exchange for North Korea’s denuclearization.

The government of Kim Jong-un rejected this proposal, calling it “the height of absurdity.”

New South Korean President Yoon Seok-gil assured last month that his government has no plans to acquire a nuclear deterrent.

In late August, the United States and South Korea held their largest joint military exercise since 2018.

The US is South Korea’s main security ally. About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea.

The Korean War (1950-1953) ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. Technically, North Korea and South Korea remain at war.

Source: RES-IPE