North Korea Unanimously Amends Constitution on 'Accelerated Development' on Nuclear Weapons

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korea develops nuclear weapons to guarantee the country's rights to existence and development, deter war and protect peace and stability in the region, North Korean state-run news agency reported Thursday, citing Choe Ryong Hae, the chairman of the Standing Committee of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly.

"The DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea], a responsible nuclear weapons state, develops highly nuclear weapons to ensure the rights to existence and development of the country, deter war and defend peace and stability in the region and the rest of the world," the chairman said in a report to the 9th Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea.

He added that the mission of North Korea's armed forces is to "defend the national sovereignty and territorial integrity and the rights and interests of the people, protect the socialist system and the gains of the revolution from all threats and guarantee peace and prosperity of the country with powerful military capabilities."

The session has unanimously adopted the policy of North Korea on nuclear armed forces by amending the country's constitution, the report said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended the session and delivered a speech, having expressed his "heartfelt thanks" to lawmakers who "exercised the most historic right of voting in reflection of the general will of all the Korean people and added a brilliant page to the history" of the country's constitution, the agency reported.