The DPRK Constitution
and Nuclear Weapons
by Stephan Haggard and Jaesung Ryu | June 5th, 2012
Just as the talk about
talks was heating up again, the North Koreans appear to have upped the ante by
enshrining the country’s status as a nuclear power in a new constitution. At
least, that is what everyone from CNN to the DailyNK seems to think.
Even the Chinese
foreign ministry got into the act. According to Yonhap, the question was asked
by a reporter from the Global Times during a regular press conference by
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin on June 1 (Chinese
here, English
here shortly).
“Q: North Korea
recently passed a constitutional amendment, indicating the DPRK possesses
nuclear weapons. What is your comment?
A: The
denuclearization of the peninsula and safeguarding peace and stability on the
peninsula is in line with the common interests of all parties and requires
joint effort.”
Global Times, hardly a voice of moderation on foreign
policy issues, weighed in with a pointed editorial titled “China Must Not Let
North Korea Go Nuclear.” The piece notes that China must not side with the US
and Seoul, but nonetheless stick to its principles in its relationship with the
DPRK:
“Washington and Seoul
have dismissed the claim, saying that they would not recognize North Korea as a
nuclear power. China should not join the two and help them exert pressure on
North Korea. However, it is also necessary for China to criticize North Korea’s
latest move and oppose its intention to legalize its nuclear status.”
So is this really a
constitutional commitment to nuclear weapons? We are skeptical. (DO- (i) the purpose of amending constitution, and (ii) a tactic to raise the bribe price of negotiating over the nuclear
program) The lightly-amended
Constitution, modified during last month’s Supreme People’s Assembly
meeting, had the primary purpose of
inscribing Kim Jong Il’s eternal status and making titular adjustments to
accommodate the new offices bestowed on Kim Jong Un. For example, while the old
constitution was known as the Kim Il Sung constitution, the new one is now the
Kim Il Sung Kim Jong Il constitution.
The passage in
question is from the Preamble and reads roughly as follows:
“Comrade Kim Jong Il,
in the midst of the breakdown of the international socialist system and the
vicious anti-DPRK attacks by the imperialist coalition, gloriously defended
comrade Kim Il Sung’s precious achievements of socialism and transformed our
nation into a state of strong political ideology, a nuclear power [literally a
state with nuclear capability], and an invincible military power as well as
opening the shining great passage [towards] the construction of a thriving [kang
song guk ga, not “strong and prosperous”] nation.”
(“김정일동지께서는
세계사회주의체계의 붕괴와 제국주의련합세력의 악랄한 반공화국압살공세속에서 선군정치로 김일성동지의 고귀한 유산인 사회주의전취물을 영예롭게 수호하시고
우리 조국을 불패의 정치사상강국, 핵보유국, 무적의 군사강국으로 전변시키시였으며
강성국가건설의 휘황한 대통로를 열어놓으시였다.”)
The preamble is as
much about Kim Jong Il’s achievements
as it is the nuclear question per se. The nuclear issue does not come up
anywhere else in the document.
Nonetheless, this
looks like a classic commitment technology to us: the regime raises the bribe price of negotiating over
the nuclear program by writing it into a constitution with both Dear and
Great Leaders’ names on it. Clever and certainly in line with current policy.
But we should not get
agitated about it, as Chung Mong-joon is wont to do; the Saenuri Assemblyman
has now gone beyond his previous statements on the introduction of tactical
nuclear weapons—whichsome House
Republicans have also advocated–to argue for an independent nuclear path. Hankyorehoffers up by far the most balanced South Korean
coverage, although they too buy into the line that this is a “declaration” of
nuclear status.
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North Korea calls
itself a nuclear power
