North Korea enshrines its status as a nuclear weapons power in its constitution

“The policy of building nuclear weapons in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been enshrined as the basic law of the state, which no one can ignore,” said leader Kim Jong-un at a meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the KCNA news agency reported on Thursday. A year ago, the North Korean parliament had already enshrined the use of nuclear weapons in law.

Kim declared the status “irreversible” at the time. The law also allows the preventive use of nuclear weapons. By enshrining the status of a nuclear power in its constitution, North Korea is now going one step further. According to the KCNA, Kim spoke of a “historic event that represents a powerful political lever for (…) strengthening national defense capability.”

Tests and threats

North Korea has already carried out numerous missile tests this year, raising tensions with South Korea. Kim also repeatedly threatened military escalation in the region and announced that he would expand his own nuclear arsenal “exponentially.”

Washington and Seoul have been warning for months that North Korea could test a nuclear weapon in the near future. It would be the first such test since 2017.

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