North Korea has amended its constitution to allow for an automatic nuclear strike if leader Kim Jong-un is killed by a foreign attack.
Points of attention
- North Korea has amended its constitution to allow for a nuclear strike if Kim Jong-un is assassinated by a foreign attack.
- The country's decision was influenced by the Iranian scenario and the perceived threat of similar targeted strikes on North Korean leadership.
North Korea will strike with a nuclear weapon over the assassination of Kim Jong-un
According to the publication, the changes were adopted at a meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, which took place on March 22 in Pyongyang.
Information about the new version of the nuclear policy was announced by the National Intelligence Service of South Korea during a closed briefing for government officials.
Under the amended legislation, if North Korea's nuclear force control system is threatened by an enemy attack, a nuclear strike must be carried out "automatically and immediately."
The Telegraph noted that Pyongyang took this step after the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and part of his entourage during joint US and Israeli strikes on Tehran.
Andrey Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, believes that it was the "Iranian scenario" that became a wake-up call for the DPRK.
Iran has become a wake-up call. North Korea has seen the extraordinary effectiveness of the US-Israeli leadership strikes that instantly eliminated most of the Iranian leadership, and now they are probably scared.
At the same time, Lankov believes that implementing such an operation against the DPRK is much more difficult than against Iran.
He cites the country's almost complete isolation, strict control over the movement of foreigners, and limited opportunities for intelligence gathering within the state as the reason.
According to the publication, Kim Jong-un has long feared an assassination attempt on himself, avoids flying and usually travels by armored train accompanied by security.
