Kim Jong Un stood before North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly on March 23, 2026, and delivered what analysts are describing as the most explicit constitutional entrenchment of the country's nuclear status in decades. He pledged to "irreversibly" cement North Korea's position as a nuclear-armed state, rejected any trade of weapons for economic aid or security guarantees, and directed parliament to pass a 2026 state budget that allocates 15.8% of total expenditure to defense — with explicit line items for nuclear deterrence and "war-fighting capabilities."
The speech is significant not merely for its rhetoric but for its timing. It came as the United States is engaged in an active military conflict with Iran, occupying diplomatic bandwidth that might otherwise focus on Pyongyang. Kim explicitly cited what he called "U.S. state terrorism and aggression" — a reference to the US-Israeli war on Iran — as evidence that Washington's security guarantees to its partners are unreliable and that North Korea's nuclear deterrent is non-negotiable.
Continue reading to see the full article
