To expand and strengthen its nuclear forces, North Korea has made sweeping changes to its constitution. One of the amendments provides for an automatic nuclear strike if its leader Kim Jong-un is killed, WION reports.
The North Korean leader indicated that this move is a powerful political lever to strengthen national defense capabilities and protect national interests.
The amendment states: "If the command and control system of the state's nuclear forces is put at risk by attacks from hostile forces, a nuclear strike shall be carried out automatically and immediately", as part of Article 3 of the North Korean Nuclear Policy Act.
The constitutional amendment comes amid heightened global tensions over the war between the United States and Iran, in which Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials were killed.
The move further solidifies North Korea's views on strengthening its nuclear forces and rejects the idea of giving them up.
Kim Jong-un justified Pyongyang's program for weapons development, highlighting trilateral military cooperation between the United States, South Korea, and Japan as a threat.