CNN
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North Korea has handed a brand new regulation declaring itself a nuclear weapons state in a transfer chief Kim Jong Un says is “irreversible.”
Kim vowed the nation would “never give up” its nuclear weapons and mentioned there may very well be no negotiations on denuclearization as he hailed the passage of the regulation, North Korean state media reported Friday.
The new regulation additionally enshrines Pyongyang’s proper to make use of preemptive nuclear strikes to guard itself – updating a earlier stance below which it had mentioned it will maintain its weapons solely till different international locations denuclearized and wouldn’t use them preemptively in opposition to non-nuclear states.
Nuclear weapons characterize the “dignity, body, and absolute power of the state,” Kim mentioned as he welcomed the choice by the nation’s rubber-stamp parliament – the Supreme People’s Assembly – to cross the brand new regulation in a unanimous vote.
“The adoption of laws and regulations related to the national nuclear force policy is a remarkable event as it’s our declaration that we legally acquired war deterrence as a means of national defense,” Kim mentioned.
“As long as nuclear weapons exist on Earth, and imperialism and the anti-North Korean maneuvers of the US and its followers remain, our road to strengthening our nuclear force will never end.”
The new regulation additionally bans the sharing of nuclear know-how with different international locations.
It comes amid rising regional tensions over North Korea’s growth of its nuclear weapons and missiles program.
Kim has made more and more provocative threats of nuclear battle towards the United States and its allies in Asia in current months.
At the identical time, the US has turn into more and more involved that North Korea could also be getting ready to hold out its first underground nuclear take a look at in years
Yang Moo-jin, a professor on the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, mentioned the regulation demonstrated Pyongyang’s hopes of strengthening its relations with China and Russia at a time of heightened international tensions.
“North Korea mentioning the possibility of using nuclear weapons if and when an attack on the state and leader is imminent is significant, even though it states nuclear weapons as a defensive last resort,” Yang mentioned.