North Korea declares itself a nuclear weapons state, in 'irreversible' move

North Korea has passed a new law declaring itself a nuclear weapons state in a move leader Kim Jong Un says is "irreversible."

Kim vowed the country would "never give up" its nuclear weapons and said there could be no negotiations on denuclearization as he hailed the passage of the law, North Korean state media reported Friday.

The new law also enshrines Pyongyang's right to use preemptive nuclear strikes to protect itself -- updating a previous stance under which it had said it would keep its weapons only until other countries denuclearized and would not use them preemptively against non-nuclear states.