SEOUL– North Korea is expected to continue to ignore calls for the resumption of denuclearization negotiations next year, while asserting its status as a “nuclear state,” in line with its new policy on the use of nuclear weapons, according to a state-run South Korean think tank Monday.

In its report projecting key international relations developments in 2023, the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) also expected the North to continue provocative actions aimed at the South.

In September, the North’s rubber-stamp parliament approved a law that lowers the bar for its preemptive nuclear strikes. Leader Kim Jong-un stated the new law makes the country’s nuclear power status “irreversible.”

The institute added that South Korea and the United States will likely place a focus on strengthening deterrence in response to the North’s saber-rattling amid frosty inter-Korean ties.

Source: Yonhap News Agency