DefenceTalkNorth Korea’s Kim Jong Un declaring he will never give up his nukes and enshrining a “first-strike” doctrine into law are part of a worrying new escalatory dynamic in nuclear weapons policy around the world, analysts say. Since the height of the Cold War, nuclear arsenals have served primarily as a deterrent to be used […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nuclear-shift-north-korean-nuke-law-reflects-global-trend-79432/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea has passed a law declaring its readiness to launch preventive nuclear strikes, including in the face of conventional attacks, state media said Friday. The move effectively eliminates the possibility of denuclearisation talks, with leader Kim Jong Un saying the country’s status as a nuclear state was now “irreversible”. The announcement comes at a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-law-makes-nuclear-program-irreversible-79372/

DefenceTalkThe United States and South Korea began their biggest combined military drills since 2018 on Monday, Seoul said — a move likely to enrage North Korea, which has been ramping up its nuclear threats. Washington is Seoul’s key security ally and stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect it from its nuclear-armed neighbor. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-south-korea-begin-biggest-joint-military-drills-since-2018-79246/

DefenceTalkNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country was “ready to mobilize” its nuclear deterrent in any future military clash with the United States and South Korea, state media said Thursday. Washington and Seoul have repeatedly warned that Pyongyang is preparing to carry out its seventh nuclear test — a move that the United […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-koreas-kim-says-ready-to-mobilize-nuclear-weapons-79147/

DefenceTalkThe number of nuclear weapons in the world is set to rise in the coming decade after 35 years of decline as global tensions flare amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, researchers said Monday. The nine nuclear powers — Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, the United States and Russia — had 12,705 nuclear […]https://www.defencetalk.com/world-headed-for-new-era-of-nuclear-rearmament-sipri-78955/

DefenceTalkSouth Korea and the United States flew warplanes including stealth fighter jets over waters around the Korean peninsula Tuesday in a fresh show of force following recent missile tests by the North, Seoul said. Sixteen South Korean warplanes, including F-35 stealth fighters and four US F-16 jets, formed an attack squadron over the West Sea […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-south-korea-fly-warplanes-after-norths-missile-tests-78896/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea launched at least one ballistic missile into waters off its east coast on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, after Seoul and Washington staged their first joint drills involving a US aircraft carrier in more than four years. Pyongyang has doubled down on upgrading its weapons programme this year despite facing crippling economic sanctions. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-launches-unidentified-ballistic-missile-seoul-78889/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea on Thursday skipped the diplomatic niceties for a combative tone when it took the helm of the Conference on Disarmament. “My country is still at war with the United States,” declared Pyongyang’s ambassador Han Tae-Song. Around 50 countries voiced their outrage that unpredictable nuclear-armed North Korea is being tasked with chairing the world’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/protests-as-north-korea-takes-helm-of-world-disarmament-body-78879/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea has trialled a “nuclear detonation device”, a senior South Korean presidential official said Wednesday, adding that a nuclear test could be imminent. US and South Korean officials have warned for weeks that Pyongyang may conduct a seventh nuclear test, and on Wednesday it test-fired three missiles, including possibly its largest intercontinental ballistic missile […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-testing-nuclear-detonation-device-seoul-78826/

DefenceTalkUS President Joe Biden arrived in South Korea Friday, his first Asia trip as US leader, aiming to cement ties with regional security allies as concern over a North Korean nuclear test grows. Biden wants the trip to build on recent moves accelerating a years-long US pivot to Asia, where rising Chinese commercial and military […]https://www.defencetalk.com/biden-begins-asia-trip-in-south-korea-under-north-nuclear-shadow-78811/