Pyongyang described the updated guidelines as a “childish diversionary tactic” intended to justify a “dangerous strategy of using nuclear weapons.”
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan enters the port of Busan on September 23, 2022. (Yonhap)
North Korea condemned the Biden administration’s revised nuclear strategy, which foresees a possible coordinated nuclear threat from North Korea, China and Russia. In response to the new US nuclear policy, Pyongyang announced it would further expand its nuclear arsenal.
A spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday via the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
“No matter how much the United States exaggerates the ‘nuclear threat’ posed by other countries, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will push ahead with the construction of a sufficient and reliable nuclear force to resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty and security interests according to the established timetable. This is the most essential and legitimate exercise of the right of self-defense to ensure regional peace and security and to protect itself,” the statement said. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is North Korea’s official name.
Last week, the New York Times reported that US President Joe Biden approved changes to his administration’s Nuclear Employment Guidance in March in response to the possibility of a coordinated nuclear threat from Russia, North Korea and China – the latter two of which have rapidly expanded their nuclear arsenals. North Korea’s statement was in response to that report.
The statement describes the revised guidelines as “nothing more than a childish diversionary tactic to justify the dangerous strategy of nuclear use aimed at military deterrence and maintaining geopolitical hegemony over other countries, and to evade criticism from the international community.”
The statement accused the United States of “expanding the alliance structure with its satellite states in the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea and Japan, into a nuclear-based military bloc.” ROK stands for Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.
It also highlights the activities of a “group whose aim is the use of nuclear weapons against a sovereign state, in violation of the UN Charter and other universal principles of international law.”
The statement justified North Korea’s nuclear weapons program as “the most essential and legitimate exercise of the right to self-defense.”
By Park Min-hee, senior editor
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