North Korea has amended its constitution to include a provision for an automatic nuclear strike if leader Kim Jong Un is assassinated, according to a report from The Telegraph. The constitutional change was approved during a session of the Supreme People’s Assembly, which opened March 22 in Pyongyang, the outlet said.
The revised policy outlines procedures for retaliatory action if North Korea’s leadership is incapacitated or killed. It states that “if the command-and-control system over the state’s nuclear forces is placed in danger by hostile forces’ attacks … a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately,” according to the report.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service briefed senior government officials this week about the update, the report added. The move comes amid heightened global tensions following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in an Israeli strike in Tehran, which was part of a recent U.S.-Israeli military operation, Fox News Digital previously reported.
North Korea also recently revised its constitution to define its territory as bordering South Korea and removed references to reunification, reflecting Kim Jong Un’s stance to treat the two Koreas as separate states. Kim has pledged to bolster the country’s nuclear capabilities and has described South Korea as the “most hostile” enemy. He has also accused the United States of “state terrorism and aggression,” signaling a more assertive posture amid rising international tensions.
Contributions to this report included reporting from Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and The Associated Press.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
