DPRK Defense Ministry Warns US-South Korea WMD Committee Talks Could Trigger Nuclear Force Law

A spokesman for North Korea's Ministry of National Defence warned via KCNA on September 16, 2026 that the US-South Korea Counter-WMD Committee meeting — held September 10 at Seoul's Defense Ministry to strengthen information-sharing and joint response capabilities against DPRK weapons of mass destruction — 'could be regarded as a grave security challenge that calls for invoking' North Korea's 2022 state nuclear force policy law, which authorizes preemptive nuclear use in defined circumstances including a threat to the country's leadership or command-and-control system. The spokesman characterized the allied dialogue as a 'blatant declaration of confrontation' that treats using nuclear weapons against the North as predetermined strategy, and accused Washington and Seoul of using WMD accusations as cover for their own weapons development.