DPRK’s Law on Policy of Nuclear Forces Promulgated

The law of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK on the state policy on the nuclear forces was promulgated on September 8.

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 weapons capable of actively coping with any existing and developing nuclear threats in future.

Making public the DPRK’s policy on the nuclear forces and stipulating legally the use of nuclear weapons are aimed to reduce the danger of a nuclear war to the maximum by preventing misjudgment 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, discharge their heavy mission in a responsible manner.

1. Mission of Nuclear Forces

The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall be a main force of national 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.

1) 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 of the fact that the military confrontation with the DPRK brings about ruin and give up their attempts at aggression and attack.

2) 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 war deterrence fails.

2. 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.

3. Command and Control of Nuclear Forces

1) The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall obey the unified command of the president of the State Affairs of the DPRK.

2) 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 its execution.

3) 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.

4. Execution of Decision on Use of Nuclear Weapons

The nuclear forces of the DPRK shall immediately execute an order of using nuclear weapons.

5. Principle of Using Nuclear Weapons

1) 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.

2) The DPRK shall neither threaten non-nuclear 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 states.

6. Conditions of Using Nuclear Weapons

The DPRK can use nuclear weapons in the following cases:

1) In case an attack by nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction has been launched or the like is judged to be on the horizon;

2) In case a nuclear or non-nuclear attack by hostile forces on the state leadership and the command of the state’s nuclear forces has been launched or to be on the horizon is judged;

3) In case a fatal military attack against important strategic objects of the state has launched or the like is judged to be on the horizon;

4) In case the operation for preventing the expansion and protraction of a war and taking the initiative in the war is inevitably needed;

5) In other case an inevitable situation in which it is compelled to respond by nuclear weapons alone to the catastrophic crisis over the existence of the state and safety of the people is created.

7. 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.

8. Safe maintenance, management and protection of nuclear weapons

1) 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.

2) The DPRK shall take thorough protective steps for fear that nuclear weapons, technology and equipment concerned, nuclear materials, etc. could leak out.

9. 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.

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.

10. Non-proliferation

The DPRK, as a responsible nuclear weapons state, shall neither deploy nuclear weapons in the territory of other countries nor share them nor transfer nuclear weapons, technology and equipment concerned and weapon-grade nuclear materials.

11. Others

1) The Law of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK "On further consolidating the position of the self-defensive nuclear state" adopted on April 1, 2013 shall be invalid.

2) Relevant organs will take technical measures to execute the law.

3) None of the articles of the law shall be explained to restrain or limit the exercise of the DPRK's just right to self-defence.

2022-09-09