Tensions are rising on the Korean peninsula, with the Daily Wire reporting that North Korea has adopted an aggressive policy regarding its use of nuclear weapons.
North Korea says it will strike first if threatened
The Daily Wire referenced a Politico article which said that under the terms of a new law, North Korea will use nuclear weapons preemptively if it believes an attack is imminent.
What’s more, the country is also pledging to “automatically and immediately” retaliate with a nuclear strike in the event that its leader, Kim Jong-Un, is killed in an attack.
Jenny Town serves as a senior fellow at the Stimson Center’s 38 North program, and she warned that the potential exists for a catastrophic miscalculation.
“This raises serious questions about the North’s ability to get accurate intelligence and what the threshold of evidence will be to make those judgment calls,” Town explained to Politico.
The Daily Wire also cited a CNN report in which Kim was quoted as saying the policy is “irreversible” while adding that North Korea’s nuclear program represents the “dignity, body, and absolute power of the state.”
“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,” the communist dictator declared.
“As long as nuclear weapons exist on Earth, and imperialism and the anti-North Korean maneuvers of the U.S. and its followers remain, our road to strengthening our nuclear force will never end,” Kim continued.
South Korean professor warns that policy change “is significant”
Yang Moo-jin is a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, and he told CNN that North Korea’s new nuclear law is reflective of geo-political circumstances.
According to Yang, Kim hopes to buttress his ties to neighboring China and Russia even as the potential for conflict is growing.
“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 stated.
Meanwhile, Fox News reported in March that South Korean voters elected conservative Yoon Suk Yeol as president. It noted that Yoon has advocated for taking a harder line with North Korea.