North Korea United States: Nuclear and responsible
We must forget the undeserved and absurd denunciations that greeted the " law on DPRK's Policy on Nuclear Forces ". A text to read. Pyongyang shows a rational and measured approach to the use of strictly defensive nuclear forces. In so doing, whatever one may regret, it takes its place in the closed circle of recognized or even tolerated nuclear states.
On September 9, 2022, the French Foreign Ministry condemned in the strongest terms the adoption of the "DPRK's nuclear forces policy" updating its nuclear posture.
According to its statement, this is a new escalation by the North Korean authorities, which poses a threat to international and regional peace and security. Referring to the relevant Security Council resolutions, France once again urges North Korea to take immediate concrete steps towards the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
The Foreign Affairs statement may come as a surprise. Didn't it originate a double mistake?
- The denial of the existence of what is and what will remain: a North Korean deterrent force;
- The lack of the minimum of attention that would have allowed one to apprehend what the articles of the law bring. To the point that one may wonder: had the writer of the press release been aware of the content of the law? (Its text is given in the insert.)
What could he have retained? Everything that follows is stipulated in the law, except for the inaccuracies of the translation.
Deterrent forces, defense only
Article 1 leaves no room for doubt. The nuclear forces of the DPRK are the main defense of the state; they protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and the life and safety of the people against external threats, aggression and military attacks.
The main mission of the nuclear forces of the DPRK is deterrence. To avoid war by making it clear to hostile forces that military confrontation with the DPRK will lead to ruin, and to renounce all attempts at aggression and attack.
As for their use: The DPRK has the principle that nuclear weapons should be used only as a last resort to meet aggression or external attack that seriously threatens the security of the country and the people, to repel aggression and attack by the hostile forces if deterrence fails.
Latent forces
The statement of the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons reveals that the forces can be engaged only when the following situations are proven:
- If an attack by nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction has been launched or is recognized as imminent;
- If a nuclear or non-nuclear attack is directed against the state leadership and the nuclear forces command organization;
- To prevent the expansion and prolongation of a war and to take the initiative in the war in case of emergency
If an attack endangers the command and control system of the nuclear forces, and the state is endangered by an attack, a nuclear strike will be launched automatically and immediately to destroy the hostile forces, including the starting point of the provocation and the site of the command, in accordance with the prepared employment plans. (Here are the United States, Japan and South Korea warned.)
In responsibility to non-nuclear states
The DPRK does not deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of other countries.
It does not threaten or plan to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states. However, unless they join in aggression or attack against the DPRK in collusion with other nuclear-weapon states.
In order to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the DPRK does not share or transfer nuclear weapons, related technology and equipment, and nuclear weapons-grade materials. With such commitments, North Korea could rejoin the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty from which it withdrew on January 10, 2003.
In many respects, the Korean law, with its eleven precise and binding articles, excluding any democratic verbalism, may remind one of the text of the decree "Basic Principles of the State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence", which was welcomed as reassuring.
Why was this not the case here? Is it not because it takes the West and its certainties in opposite directions? These nuclear forces are here to stay, progressing in quality and number to keep up with the evolution of threats, and Pyongyang has a rational and measured approach to their use. As a result, it is taking its place in the closed circle of recognized, even tolerated, nuclear states. Is it not also because we remain blinded by caricatured and outdated images that prevent us from seeing that with Kim Jong Un North Korea could have changed a lot?
(1) Law on DPRK's Policy on Nuclear Forces Promulgated, Korean Central News Agency of DPRK, 08/09/2022
Law on DPRK's Policy on Nuclear Forces
According to the law, the DPRK, as a responsible nuclear weapons state, opposes all forms of war including nuclear wars and aspires to build a peaceful world in which the international justice is realized. The nuclear forces of the DPRK are a powerful means for defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity and fundamental interests of the state, preventing a war on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia and ensuring the strategic stability of the world. The nuclear posture of the DPRK is guaranteed by the reliable, effective and matured nuclear deterrence, defensive and responsible nuclear forces policy and flexible and purposeful strategy for using nuclear weapon capable of actively coping with any existing and developing nuclear threats in future. The opening of the DPRK's policy on the nuclear forces and legal stipulation of the use of nuclear weapons are aimed to reduce the danger of a nuclear war to the maximum by preventing misjudge among nuclear weapons states and misuse of nuclear weapons. The Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK decides as follows in order to make the nuclear forces, the backbone of the state defence capacity, and discharge their heavy mission in a responsible manner.
Mission of Nuclear Forces
The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall be a main force of the state defence which safeguards the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and the lives and safety of the people from outside military threat, aggression and attack.
- The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall regard it as their main mission to deter a war by making hostile forces have a clear understanding the fact that the military confrontation with the DPRK brings about ruin and give up attempts at aggression and attack. The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall carry out an operational mission for repulsing hostile forces' aggression and attack and achieving decisive victory of war in case its deterrence fails.
Constitution of Nuclear Forces
The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall be composed of different kinds of nuclear warheads, delivery means, command and control system and all the personnel, equipment and facilities for the system's operating and updating.
Command and Control of Nuclear Forces
- The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall obey the monolithic command of the president of the State Affairs of the DPRK.
The president of the State Affairs of the DPRK shall have all decisive powers concerning nuclear weapons.
- The state nuclear forces command organization composed of members appointed by the president of the State Affairs of the DPRK shall assist the president of the State Affairs of the DPRK in the whole course from decision concerning nuclear weapons to execution.
In case the command and control system over the state nuclear forces is placed in danger owing to an attack by hostile forces, a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately to destroy the hostile forces including the starting point of provocation and the command according to the operation plan decided in advance.
Execution of Decision on Use of Nuclear Weapons The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall immediately execute an order of using nuclear weapons.
Principle of Using Nuclear Weapons
- The DPRK shall regard it as its main principle to use nuclear weapons as the last means in order to cope with outside aggression and attack seriously threatening the security of the country and the people.
- The DPRK shall neither threaten non-nuclear weapons states with its nuclear weapons nor use nuclear weapons against them unless they join aggression or attack against the DPRK in collusion with other nuclear weapons states.
Conditions of Using Nuclear Weapons
The DPRK can use nuclear weapons in the following cases:
- In case an attack by nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction was launched or drew near is judged
- In case a nuclear or non-nuclear attack by hostile forces on the state leadership and the command organization of the state's nuclear forces was launched or drew near is judged
- In case a fatal military attack against important strategic objects of the state was launched or drew near is judged
- In case the need for operation for preventing the expansion and protraction of a war and taking the initiative in the war in contingency is inevitably raised.
- In other case an inevitable situation in which it is compelled to correspond with catastrophic crisis to the existence of the state and safety of the people by only nuclear weapons is created.
Regular readiness of nuclear forces
The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall be regularly ready for action so that if an order to use nuclear weapons is issued, it can immediately execute it in any conditions and circumstances.
Safe maintenance, management and protection of nuclear weapons
The DPRK shall establish a thorough and safe system of storing and managing nuclear weapons to make sure that all the processes such as their storage and management, the assessment of their lifespan and performance and their update and dismantlement are conducted in conformity with administrative and technical regulations and legal procedures, and shall guarantee its implementation.
The DPRK shall take thorough protective steps for fear that nuclear weapons, technology and equipment concerned, nuclear substances, etc. will leak out.
Qualitative and quantitative increasing and upgrading of nuclear forces
1) The DPRK shall constantly assess outside nuclear threats and the change in the posture of international nuclear forces and correspondingly upgrade and beef up its nuclear forces in a qualitative and quantitative way in response to it.
2) The DPRK shall regularly update its strategy of using nuclear weapons according to different situations to enable its nuclear forces to reliably perform their mission.
Non-proliferation
The DPRK, as a responsible nuclear weapons state, shall neither deploy nuclear weapons in the territory of other countries nor share them and not transfer nuclear weapons, technology and equipment concerned and weapon-grade nuclear substances.
