Pyongyang updates basic law with automatic nuclear strike in case of Kim Jong Un assassination

The outlet says the amendments were adopted during a session of the Supreme People's Assembly on March 22 in Pyongyang.

South Korean National Intelligence Service reportedly disclosed details of the revised nuclear policy during a closed briefing for government officials.

Under the amended law, if the North Korean nuclear command-and-control system comes under threat as a result of an enemy attack, a nuclear strike must be launched "automatically and immediately."

The Telegraph noted that Pyongyang took this step after the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and several members of his inner circle during joint US-Israeli strikes on Tehran.

Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, believes the Iranian scenario served as a wake-up call for North Korea.

"Iran was the wake-up call. 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," he said.

At the same time, Lankov believes carrying out a similar operation against North Korea would be far more difficult than against Iran.

He cited the country's near-total isolation, strict controls on the movement of foreigners, and limited intelligence-gathering capabilities within the state as key reasons.

The report says Kim Jong Un has long feared assassination attempts, avoids air travel, and typically travels by armored train accompanied by heavy security.

As previously reported, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said the United States must recognize a new reality.

According to her, North Korea's nuclear program is final and will not be subject to future negotiations.

Later, Kim Jong Un announced a new strategy aimed at simultaneously developing both nuclear forces and conventional armed forces.