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North Korea’s constitution now calls for an immediate retaliatory nuclear missile strike if leader Kim Jong Un is killed by a foreign power.

The change, believed to have been adopted earlier this year, was made soon after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was wiped out in the US-Israeli strikes, the Telegraph reported.  

“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,” the revised Article 3 of North Korea’s nuclear-policy law now reads.  


  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches a ballistic missile test with military officials and his daughter April 19. KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches a ballistic missile test with military officials and his daughter April 19. KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images

The revision, likely agreed on by the Supreme People’s Assembly, was only made public at a South Korean government intelligence briefing last week.

While the North Korean dictator already has control of the country’s nuclear forces, the update to the constitution makes clear what should occur if he is assassinated.

“This may have been policy before, but it has added emphasis now it has been enshrined in the constitution,” said Andrei Lankov, a professor of international relations at Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea.


  Kim looks on during a missile test with military officials April 12. KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images Kim looks on during a missile test with military officials April 12. KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images

  Kim and his daughter inspect an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022. via REUTERS Kim and his daughter inspect an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022. via REUTERS

“Iran was the wake-up call,” Lankov said. “North Korea saw the remarkable efficiency of the US-Israeli decapitation attacks, which immediately eliminated the greater part of the Iranian leadership, and they must now be terrified.”

As part of the constitution revisions, Pyongyang also made tweaks to define its territory as bordering South Korea and tp remove references to reunification.

The change to Article 2 marks the first time North Korea has added a territorial clause to its constitution.

The new Article 2 now says North Korea’s territory includes land “bordering the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation to the north and the Republic of Korea to the south,” as well as territorial waters and airspace based on that land.

The clause adds that North Korea “will never tolerate any infringement” of its territory.

With Post wires

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