North Korea has added a provision to its Constitution requiring the military to automatically launch a nuclear strike in the event of the death of the country's leader Kim Jong-un.
This was reported by The Telegraph, citing a briefing from the National Intelligence Service of South Korea.
In the revised Constitution, Kim Jong-un is now designated as the Chairman of the State Council and explicitly identified as the head of state. The Chairman of the State Council commands the nuclear forces of North Korea. Kim Jong-un's status as the sole commander of the nuclear forces was specifically emphasized in the law. The Telegraph notes that if the command system of the nuclear forces is threatened by an enemy attack, "a nuclear strike is carried out automatically and without delay."
According to estimates from South Korea, North Korea possesses approximately 60 nuclear warheads and about 2000 kg of highly enriched uranium.
The amendments were adopted at the first session of the 15th Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang. The changes may have been prompted by the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, which resulted in the death of the country's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and some of his entourage, The Telegraph reports.
Russian Orientalist Andrei Lankov stated that Pyongyang perceived the events in Iran as a signal of threat and decided to officially enshrine the mechanism for a retaliatory strike in the event of the "decapitation" of the leadership, The Moscow Times writes.
