Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) Choe Ryong Hae, the chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) Standing Committee, announced that nuclear weapons development would deter war and ensure regional peace and stability thus consequently guaranteeing the DPRK's rights to existence and development, according to KCNA. 

During the 9th Session of the 14th SPA, the chairman noted that "the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea], a responsible nuclear weapons state, develops highly nuclear weapons to ensure the rights to existence and development of the country, deter war and defend peace and stability in the region and the rest of the world."

The DPRK's armed forces are tasked with "defend the national sovereignty and territorial integrity and the rights and interests of the people, protect the socialist system and the gains of the revolution from all threats and guarantee peace and prosperity of the country with powerful military capabilities."

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The DPRK's new policy of nuclear force was adopted following a unanimous vote that approved amendments to the country's constitution.

During the session, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un also delivered a speech noting that "As long as our Republic exists as a socialist state and as long as the tyrannical nuclear weapons of the imperialists trying to stamp out independence and socialism exist on the earth, we must neither change nor concede the present position of our country as a nuclear weapons state, but, on the contrary, continue to further strengthen the nuclear force."

Moreover, Kim highlighted that "mankind has desired the world without nuclear weapons since the emergence of nuclear weapons and the first nuclear holocaust on this planet" given that the DPRK was a victim of "nuclear blackmail since the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950" despite all peace-loving efforts aimed at the Korean peninsula.

According to the DPRK leader, these peace-building efforts had in prior years been disregarded "for the mere reason that its idea and system are different," driving the DPRK to realize "the immutable truth that it should certainly counter the hostile forces' nuclear threat in kind."

Kim clearly explained that "the US imperialists have persistently escalated their nuclear threat to our Republic," even at a time when the DPRK was a non-nuclear state.

Consequently, he said, the Worker's Party of Korea found that "preserving and strengthening" the state's "strategic assets," which are nuclear weapons it possesses, is what will guarantee the country's deterrence equation.

Korean Peninsula brought to brink of nuclear war in 2023

In a fiery address to the United Nations, earlier on Tuesday, Kim Song, the Permanent Representative of the DPRK to the UN, described the year 2023 as "extremely perilous," warning that it had brought the Korean Peninsula closer to the brink of a potential nuclear conflict.

Song attributed this escalating danger to what he termed as the United States and its allies' reckless and persistent pursuit of a nuclear confrontation.

"Due to the ongoing and reckless saber-rattling by the United States and its foreign partners, the year 2023 will be remembered as an exceedingly hazardous period during which the military security situation in and around the Korean Peninsula edged dangerously close to the precipice of nuclear war," Song said during his address to the UN General Assembly.

Song also highlighted that, from the beginning of the year, both Washington and Seoul had been making what he called "hysterical remarks," advocating for the toppling of the leadership in the DPRK and ending its "occupation" of Pyongyang, which he argued violated the United Nations Charter.

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The DPRK's envoy went on to assert that the United States had been intensifying the risk of a nuclear conflict by creating a "Nuclear Consultative Group" and deploying nuclear submarines and strategic bombers, all capable of carrying nuclear weaponry, in and around the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Song emphasized that the perilous situation in the Korean Peninsula could be attributed to the United States' relentless pursuit of global dominance and also underscored the role played by the South Korean government in this context.

"Ever since the current administration took office, the entire Republic of Korea has effectively transformed into a military outpost of the United States," Song continued.

In response to the escalating threats to its sovereignty, Kim Song declared that the DPRK had been compelled to expedite its self-defense capabilities and would continue to do so as long as its sovereignty remained under threat.

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