[54585] North Korea updates its constitution: Automatic nuclear response mechanism in case of Kim Jong-un's assassination
[54585] North Korea updates its constitution: Automatic nuclear response mechanism in case of Kim Jong-un's assassination
Reports of changes to the North Korean constitution mandating the automatic launch of nuclear weapons in the event of an attack on the country's leader, against the backdrop of the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran.
North Korea toughens its nuclear doctrine
According to reports from South Korean intelligence and international media, North Korea has introduced dramatic amendments to its constitution, enshrining an "automatic and immediate nuclear response" mechanism in the event that leader Kim Jong-un is assassinated or incapacitated as a result of an attack by a foreign state. The amendments, which were adopted according to Censor.NET at the Supreme People's Assembly on March 22, stipulate that command of nuclear weapons remains in the hands of Kim, but he may delegate these powers to the nuclear forces command in the event of a threat to the command and control system.
Various sources, including Ukraine NOW and Novinach, indicate that the move is a direct response to dramatic geopolitical events that occurred this year, most notably the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an attack attributed to the US and Israel, as well as the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US authorities.
Alongside the political tightening, North Korea has implemented another conceptual shift: according to Grunt, the new constitution officially renounces the aspiration for reunification with South Korea and defines it as a separate state, while formally updating the country's borders. The reports note that these steps come concurrently with a significant increase in the production of artillery ammunition, which Pyongyang provides to Russia for the war in Ukraine, as published in Suspilne.
Professor Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul noted in Hromadske that this policy may have existed de facto in the past as well, but it has now been officially enshrined at the constitutional level to deter attacks similar to those we have seen in the Middle East.