North Korea protests against ROK-US WMD response discussions... Threats of “possibility of invoking national nuclear force policy laws”

North Korea recently protested against discussions between South Korea and the United States on ways to respond to the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), threatening that it could be viewed as a "serious security challenge requiring the activation of national nuclear force policy laws."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense issued a statement on the 16th and said that South Korea and the United States have recently "become more blatant in their attempts at military confrontation targeting North Korea while talking about responses to the threat of weapons of mass destruction," the Korean Central News Agency reported.

Regarding the holding of the Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction Committee (CWMDC) by the ROK-US military authorities on the 10th, the spokesperson protested, saying, "They put the 'weapons of mass destruction threat' at the forefront and talked about strengthening the joint defense posture premised on the use of military force in North Korea," adding, "It cannot be overlooked."

He continued, “This is a blatant declaration of confrontation aimed at making the use of nuclear and biological weapons against our country a fait accompli in the event of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula and accelerating practical preparations for its implementation, and is a serious political escalation maneuver that maximizes the risk of using weapons of mass destruction in the region.”

The spokesperson also emphasized that South Korea and the United States recently agreed to begin nuclear and biological weapons training in earnest after mastering the WMD response playbook during the joint exercise 'Ulchi Shield of Freedom' (UFS), adding, "This proves that the enemy's attempt to use weapons of mass destruction is moving to an extremely reckless stage."

At the same time, he threatened, “Such attacks and threats of use of weapons of mass destruction by enemies targeting our country can be considered a serious security challenge that requires the activation of the relevant provisions of the National Nuclear Forces Policy Act,” and “We recommend that you carefully interpret what the activation of the relevant provisions means and take it as a stern warning.”

The law on the National Nuclear Forces Policy adopted by North Korea in 2022 specifies the principles and conditions for using nuclear weapons.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense did not specifically mention what the 'relevant provision' was, but it appears to refer to 'cases where an attack with nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction is judged to have been carried out or is imminent' among the five conditions for nuclear use mentioned in Article 6 of the Act.

Previously, the ROK-US defense authorities held a ROK-US Weapons of Mass Destruction Response Committee at the Ministry of Defense building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 10th to discuss ways to strengthen responses to North Korea's use of WMD, including establishing an information sharing system related to North Korea's WMD.

Experts assessed that North Korea is seeking to gain an upper hand in future North Korea-US dialogue and to build justification for its status as a nuclear state by repeatedly raising issues about what it claims is a so-called hostile policy toward North Korea.

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, "It is unusual for the Ministry of Defense to take a position in the ROK-US WMD response meeting, which North Korea had not previously paid much attention to," and speculated, "In a situation where the United States wants dialogue, it appears that they are in the process of strengthening their leverage by stepping over issues that were previously overlooked one by one."

Commissioner Hong also added, “This appears to be the first time a threat has been made based on provisions of the Nuclear Forces Act.”

Yang Moo-jin, a chair professor at the University of North Korean Studies, also said, "Recently, North Korea has shown a tendency to intensively oppose issues related to hostile policies toward North Korea, such as military cooperation between South Korea and the United States, security cooperation between Korea, the United States and Japan, and human rights issues." He added, "By pointing out related cases one by one ahead of the North Korea-US dialogue, it may be an accumulation of justification to make the abolition of hostile policies toward North Korea a prerequisite."