Exercise of Legitimate Right to Self-Defense by a Sovereign State

 2022.1.25.

https://www.mfa.gov.kp/view/article/14075

As we enter this year, brilliant successes are being attained in the field of enhancing our national defense capabilities, attracting attention of the people around the world.

Our recent test launches of hypersonic missiles are a part of regular measures for enhancing our national defense capabilities to accomplish the task of modernizing the national strategic forces, which did not aim at a specific country or a force nor did it inflict any harm on the security of the neighboring countries.

This fact notwithstanding, the U.S. groundlessly denounced the exercise of the legitimate right to self-defense by a sovereign state as “provocation” and “threat” and made the fuss of censuring our country at the UN Security Council. It went so far as to persist in its attempt to deprive our country of its right to self-defense while imposing unilateral sanctions upon it.

A senior researcher of the Centre for Korean Studies under the Institute of Far East, Russian Academy of Sciences contended that such a nervous response from the U.S. was caused by the fact that the U.S. has yet to possess hypersonic weapons which have gone through all the relevant tests and that, at present, the DPRK is far ahead of the U.S. in the field of hypersonic weapons development, noting that it is essential for the DPRK to possess such missiles to safeguard its national sovereignty and guarantee the inviolability of its frontier.

A Russian military commentator also commented that the DPRK has no other way but to move towards bolstering its nuclear and missile potentials under the current circumstances where Biden Administration is sticking to unilateral and complete denuclearization of the DPRK and ramping up pressure against it without any concession on its part.

This is an example of showing that there is a growing voice of sympathy to the DPRK with its measures to build up national defense capabilities as it is an exercise of the legitimate right to self-defense, indispensable for safeguarding the dignity, sovereign rights and interests of the state to cope with the military circumstances on the Korean peninsula that is getting ever more unstable.

It is a natural right inherent in a sovereign state to enhance its national defense capabilities to ensure security of the state and to provide people with a peaceful and stable environment, which no one can find fault with or pick a quarrel with it.