This photo released on Sept. 28 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attending a meeting of its parliament, where it unanimously enshrined the nuclear program in its constitution, during a two-day session from Sept. 26 to 27 in Pyongyang, North Korea. Yonhap

Kim Jong-un shows unwavering will for nuclear development by codifying right in constitutionBy Jung Min-ho

North Korea’s development and advancement of nuclear weapons are now enshrined in its constitution following an amendment last week to expand its nuclear force. The reclusive state is the only country to have done that.

Speaking to The Korea Times, Wednesday, some experts said the codification demonstrates the regime’s determination to develop nuclear weapons and also reflects a firm rejection of international calls for denuclearization. They also said this could all be part of the North’s groundwork for its next step: seeking nuclear disarmament talks with Washington.

“North Korea’s constitutional reform is a message that it won’t accept international calls for denuclearization and that it would only respond to nuclear disarmament negotiations,” said Oh Gyeong-seob, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a state-funded think tank.

“But that stance is unacceptable to South Korea and its allies, as it would signify a recognition of North Korea's status as a nuclear-armed state and weaken the justification for sanctions.”

Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, also thinks Pyongyang will seek such a disarmament deal with Washington ― most likely after the U.S. presidential election next year.

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“At some point, North Korea will try to make a deal with the United States … All of this is part of the groundwork for the negotiation,” he said.

At the ninth session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly held from Sept. 26 to 27, North Korea decided to supplement Article 58 of Chapter 4 of the Socialist Constitution to ensure its right to existence and “protect peace” by rapidly developing nuclear weapons to a higher level. The move came a year after North Korea enshrined in law the right to use a preemptive nuclear strike to protect itself, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declaring that its nuclear status is “irreversible.”

After the constitutional change, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul said on Sunday that North Korea will never be recognized as a nuclear-armed state and its nuclear ambitions will only lead to more international sanctions.

However, many experts have become increasingly skeptical of the prospects of denuclearization as North Korea’s nuclear threat continues to intensify. A report released this January by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, a state-funded think tank, estimated that North Korea had already secured enough technology and materials for “80 to 90 nuclear warheads.” The number is expected to increase to as many as 166 by 2030, it said.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, a think tank, is among the skeptics who believe that the chance of North Korean denuclearization through talks is practically “zero.”

“North Korea has made it clear repeatedly that it will continue to develop nuclear weapons as long as the U.S. has them,” Cheong said. “I think its nuclear weapons are unnegotiable at this point.”

Responding to a Pentagon document revealed on Wednesday labeling Pyongyang as a “persistent” threat, a spokesperson for the North Korean defense ministry issued a statement rejecting the notion and accused the U.S. of being a threat to Pyongyang.

“As for the ‘persistent threat,’ it is an expression most suitable for the U.S., the world’s biggest WMD-armed state and the only criminal state that used A-bombs, which has labeled the DPRK as ‘enemy’ and escalated unprecedented nuclear threat and blackmail against it since the last century,” the official said via the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

On the same day, the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul criticized North Korea for its constitutional amendment and warned Pyongyang that any attempt to use nuclear weapons will result in the end of its regime.