Kim Jong Un has amended the constitution of North Korea to require the military to launch a nuclear retaliation in the event of his assassination.
This was reported by the Daily Mail.
The changes formalize procedures for a nuclear response if Kim is killed or loses the ability to command the country’s armed forces.
Under the updated Article 3 of North Korea’s nuclear policy law, a nuclear retaliation would be carried out “automatically and immediately” if the country’s nuclear command and control system is threatened by enemy attacks, according to a briefing by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
As the publication notes, the move follows the elimination of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several of his top advisers during the initial phase of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, the amendment was approved during the first session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly, which opened in Pyongyang on March 22.
According to experts, North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is gradually becoming large enough to potentially overwhelm the US ground-based missile defense system.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in late January 2026 that Pyongyang is capable of producing enough material to create up to 20 nuclear warheads per year.
The construction or modernization of fissile material production facilities could further accelerate this growth. At the same time, North Korea is working on new delivery methods.
