North Korea Amends Constitution to Enshrine Permanent Growth of Nuclear Arsenal
TimeOct 02, 2023
The Facts
North Korea on Wednesday condemned the US Dept. of Defense's counter-weapons of mass destruction (WMD) strategy paper, which describes Pyongyang as a "persistent threat."
Last week, the Pentagon released the 2023 version of its Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, which identifies China as a "pacing challenge," and Russia as an "acute threat," with North Korea and Iran being labeled "persistent threats as they continue to further pursue and develop WMD."
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
With its updated WMD counter-strategy, the US is turning reality upside down, as it is Washington and its military-industrial complex that pose the greatest threat to the world. The US is the world's largest WMD-armed state and the only one that has ever used nuclear weapons. To justify its policy of global military hegemony, it projects the threat it poses itself onto declared "enemies." This explains the need for North Korea to increase its nuclear arsenal and diversify its nuclear strike capability.
Pro-establishment narrative
Pyongyang not only rejects denuclearization but has also passed a law allowing the use of nuclear weapons as an offensive war option. Meanwhile, Pyongyang is developing and stationing nuclear capabilities that could reach regional US allies as well as the US itself. Moreover, the DPRK's chemical and biological arsenal poses a constant threat to any nation the regime considers an "enemy." The Kim regime represents an incalculable danger, and the US is right to adapt to this persistent threat.
