North Korea has revised its constitution to require a nuclear strike if leader Kim Jong-un is killed or incapacitated in an attack, according to a report in The Telegraph.
Officials in Seoul were given the update during a recent briefing by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), which said Pyongyang has formalized procedures for a retaliatory nuclear response in the event its leadership is targeted.
The revised Article 3 provision says that if the command-and-control system over the country’s nuclear forces is threatened by a hostile attack, “a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately,” according to British news outlet The Telegraph.
The change was reportedly adopted during a session of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly in March and later shared with South Korean intelligence officials.
